Echoing Flames: A Dangerous Path
by TheShadowedWarrior
Summary: After the destruction of their territory, Fireheart is busier than ever. With raising his kits, training the deaf Snowpaw, and his regular duties as Clan deputy, his stress only seem to be mounting. Worst of all is the new, yet familiar leader of ShadowClan, who may or may not have it out for his former Clanmates.
1. Shadowed Surprise

**Welcome to the fifth installment of my ****_Echoing Flames _****AU! As always, I don't own Warriors, even though I should.**

* * *

Fireheart stared in disbelief and anger at the dark brown tabby that towered over his counterparts on top of the Great Rock, gazing down at the throng of cats beneath him. Somehow, Tigerclaw, the cat who had tried to murder his mother and mentor, was now standing over all the Clans as the new leader of ShadowClan.

"Tigerclaw!" he spat under his breath. How had this happened? How was it possible that a traitor had received the gift of nine lives from StarClan? More importantly, why had ShadowClan accepted him as their leader in the first place?

The murmurs and hisses of displeasure around him told Fireheart that his sentiments were shared by just about every other warrior present at the Gathering. He glanced around at the surrounding cats. Most of them looked horrified and disgusted, but there were a few expressions that seemed either mildly neutral or, in Darkstripe's case, outright smug. Tigerclaw's–no, Tigerstar's–closest ally had chosen to follow him when the former ThunderClan warrior was exiled, and he had been rewarded in the greatest way possible by being chosen to take on the role of the new ShadowClan leader's second-in-command.

"What does _he _think he's doing up there?" Fireheart heard Onewhisker of WindClan hiss.

"Tigerclaw is the new leader of ShadowClan?" Mudclaw exclaimed. "But he's a traitor! He can't be a leader!"

"Believe it or not, it's true," Darkstripe sneered, still with the same cold, smug expression on his face. "Tigerstar has received the blessing of StarClan, and you must bow to him as the newest leader among the Clans."

"No one asked to hear your opinion," Fireheart snapped at his former Clanmate. "Tigerstar might not be qualified to be a leader, but you are even _less _qualified to be his deputy–or anyone else's, for that matter. You're nothing more than a talentless, spineless, pathetic, sycophantic, egomaniacal imbecile."

Bluestar stepped forward and turned to address Tigerstar. She didn't give the call to start the Gathering–there was no need. Everyone's attention was already fixated on the Great Rock, and the whispers died down as soon as she moved forward. Fireheart took a seat a few paces away, looking up at his mother as she gazed at Tigerstar with eyes like flint.

"Greetings, Tigerclaw," she meowed coolly. "Why are you here? The Gathering is a place for warriors only, or have you forgotten that?"

"Not at all, Bluestar," Tigerstar replied smoothly. "I have been chosen by StarClan to help ShadowClan recover from its sickness and restore the Clan to its former glory. They have granted me nine lives, and I stand before you today as their new leader."

"And we're supposed to believe that, are we?" Crookedstar broke in roughly. "You betrayed your Clan. You tried to murder your leader, and probably several other cats as well. How do you expect us to believe that StarClan would choose _you _to become ShadowClan's new leader?"

"I understand your wariness," the dark tabby meowed. "But I can assure you that everything I say is the full truth and nothing less."

"You've lied before. You can lie again," Tallstar meowed flatly.

Instead of responding directly, Tigerstar turned to face the warriors in the clearing below him. Fireheart waited for him to speak, wondering what the treacherous warrior was planning now. For a moment, he thought that the dark tabby was looking at him, but he quickly brushed the thought off. Now wasn't the time to start getting paranoid.

"Cats of all Clans," Tigerstar rumbled. "Let me say that I understand your unhappiness at seeing me here today. I admit that my choices in the past were ill-advised and borne of greed and self-centeredness. However, that is not the cat I am today. Thanks to my time in exile, I can safely say that I've seen the light. Therefore, I hope that this will not only be a new beginning for me but a new beginning for all of us. I will trust my ancestors in StarClan to guide my path as a leader, and I will work to restore harmony within the Clans so that you may consider ShadowClan your allies in times of peace."

Fireheart could tell that Tigerstar's speech hadn't impressed the other leaders one bit, but at the moment, they didn't have much choice other than to take him at his word. He glanced around the clearing, wondering if anyone had been moved by the ShadowClan leader's words. Most of the warriors were still muttering unhappily amongst themselves, but there were a few suspicious expressions here and there.

Bluestar stepped away from Tigerstar and turned to speak to the throng of warriors below her, meowing, "ThunderClan brings good news and bad news today. As most of you will have no doubt heard, a fire burned through our territory. RiverClan offered us shelter, and we thank them for their generosity. Unfortunately, we lost Patchpelt, One-eye, and Smallear, and Yellowfang could not attend today's meeting, as she chose to remain behind to care for any sick or injured warriors. However, we are rebuilding our camp and we are still as strong as ever."

"I have no doubt of it," Tigerstar meowed calmly.

"On a happier note," the blue-gray molly continued, ignoring her former deputy. "We have recently appointed two new apprentices and four new warriors. Fernpaw and Ashpaw have begun their training and are being mentored by Dustpelt and Mousefur. And Swiftpaw, Brightpaw, Thornpaw, and Brackenpaw have completed their training and stand before you today as Swiftrunner, Brightheart, Thornclaw, and Brackenfur."

A chorus of yowls rose up from the crowd as cats from all Clans began chanting the six ThunderClan cats' names. Out of the corner of his eye, Fireheart saw Swiftrunner and Brightheart with their heads raised proudly. He turned his attention back to the Great Rock as Bluestar stepped back to allow Tallstar to come forward.

"The prey is running well in WindClan," the black and white WindClan leader meowed smoothly. "We found a fox on our territory a few days ago, but Onewhisker and Mudclaw helped drive it off. It crossed the border towards Highstones and we have not seen it since, but our patrols are continuing to keep an eye out in case it decides to return."

The rest of the Gathering passed without any particularly interesting news from any of the other Clans. At the end of the meeting, Bluestar leaped down from the Great Rock and padded in the direction of the ThunderClan camp, signaling with her tail for her warriors to follow her. Fireheart bounded over to catch up with his mother, falling into step with her as they headed through the forest.

"Can you believe that?" he hissed, keeping his voice low as to avoid being overheard. "Tigerstar, the new leader of ShadowClan! Imagine that."

"I know. I don't like it myself, but it doesn't look as though we have any other choice than to accept it," Bluestar meowed grimly. "He might have been lying about receiving nine lives–and it wouldn't surprise me if he was–but unfortunately, we have no way of proving that."

"Why would ShadowClan accept him as their new leader in the first place?" Fireheart asked, shaking his head. "They know what he did as well as any other Clan. Surely they wouldn't want Tigerstar as their new leader–especially after everything that happened with Brokentail."

"I don't know, Fireheart. We can only hope that they didn't have much choice in the matter," his mother replied with a sigh. "Perhaps this will be a good thing for ThunderClan. Tigerstar will have his paws full trying to rebuild ShadowClan, so he won't have much time to bother us just yet. We'll have to take advantage of what time we have and work to bring our own Clan back to strength as well."

Fireheart wanted to share her optimism, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. There were many things he could say about Tigerstar, most of them rather unflattering, but one thing he could not do was fault his ability to multitask. He wouldn't have found it surprising if Tigerstar managed to restore his new Clan while secretly formulating a plot to destroy his old one.

_Maybe he won't care anymore, _he thought hopefully. _Now that he has what he wants, maybe he won't be interested in coming after ThunderClan. _

But he couldn't make himself believe that either. Tigerstar had never been one to let go of a grudge, and now that he supposedly had the power of StarClan behind him, he had no reason _not _to attack his former Clan. All he would need to do was spread a small lie to his Clanmates, possibly about ThunderClan stealing prey, order an attack, and that would be the end of that. The best part that could be said about any of this was that at least now, they knew where Tigerstar was and could keep an eye on him.

However, as past events had proven, just because they could keep an eye on him didn't necessarily mean they were prepared for whatever he might have in store for them.


	2. A Heart of Cinders

"Right then, Cinderpaw," Fireheart meowed. "I'm going to keep your assessment fairly simple. All I want you to do is engage in a mock battle with me. We'll keep our claws sheathed, but other than that, I want you to treat it as you would any normal fight."

"I understand, Fireheart," Cinderpaw meowed obediently.

"Good. Go to the other side of the training hollow, and we'll start the battle on my command," Fireheart replied, taking a few paces backward.

Cinderpaw nodded and hurried to the opposite end of the sandy hollow. Once she had gathered herself, she gave a quick nod to her mentor to indicate that she was ready for him to give the starting command.

"Ready, two, one, start!"

Fireheart crouched down and took a few steps forward, hissing. Cinderpaw mirrored his movements, her injured leg hovering just above the ground as she moved towards him. After a few heartbeats, he shot forward before swerving in the direction of her crippled leg, forcing her off balance as she tried to turn to meet him. She stumbled, but instead of collapsing into a heap, she used the momentum from her fall to roll away. Before Fireheart had time to react, the dark gray molly leaped back to her paws, leaping at him and pinning him down into the soft sand. He flipped her off of him, but she simply rolled over again and jumped back to her feet. Fireheart rushed forward again, but this time, Cinderpaw was ready. Before he could swerve, she ducked and twisted underneath him, flipping him over onto his back and landing squarely on top of him. To finish off the mock battle, Cinderpaw pretended to sink her fangs into his shoulder and raked her hind paws over his stomach.

"I did it!" Cinderpaw cheered, jumping off of him. "I really did it!"

"Well done, Cinderpaw!" Fireheart purred, clambering back to his feet. He touched his nose to his apprentice's ear and meowed softly, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Fireheart," the dark gray molly purred happily. She hesitated, then asked, "Does this mean I get to become a warrior now?"

She looked so anxious, her paws kneading the ground as she awaited his response. Fireheart knew better than almost anyone how much this meant to her. Although Cinderpaw had shown no sign of jealousy when she watched her littermates earn their warrior names before her, he knew it had to sting a little, especially knowing that she would have been there with them if not for her accident. But she had never allowed herself to become bitter or resentful, and she had worked three times as hard as anyone to get to where she was now. If there was anyone who deserved to become a warrior more than Cinderpaw, Fireheart had yet to meet them.

"Of course," he replied finally, his voice full of conviction. "I couldn't think of anyone more deserving."

Cinderpaw let out a yelp of joy, chasing her tail around in excitement as though she were a tiny kit again. Fireheart purred in amusement, gently touching his tail to her shoulder and leading her out of the training hollow. Together, the two cats padded back towards the ThunderClan camp, where they found nearly half the Clan waiting for them expectantly. As soon as she saw them, Frostfur rushed forward, followed closely by Bluestar, Brackenfur, Brightheart, and Thornclaw.

"Well? How did your assessment go? Did you pass?" Frostfur asked anxiously, her white fur fluffing up slightly.

Cinderpaw lifted her chin up proudly and replied, "I did it. I passed."

There were mingled exclamations of joy and relief at the young molly's declaration. Cinderpaw's family rushed forward to congratulate her, while Fernpaw and Ashpaw started up a celebratory chant that was quickly picked up by Squirrelkit, Redkit, Spotkit, Bramblekit, and Tawnykit. Even Snowkit, although he couldn't hear what was being said, was chasing his tail around in excitement, the joyous mood of the surrounding warriors clearly infectious.

"Congratulations, Cinderpaw!" Brightheart meowed excitedly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Brightheart," Cinderpaw purred.

"Thornclaw and I already made a nest for you in the warriors' den," Brackenfur told his sister. "You'll be sleeping right in between us."

"Well done indeed, Cinderpaw," Bluestar meowed warmly. "The sunhigh patrol is still out right now, but as soon as they return, we'll hold your naming ceremony right away. In the meantime, go take a piece of fresh-kill and then have a nap. You've earned it."

Cinderpaw nodded and headed over to the fresh-kill pile, her tail high and her fur fluffed up with excitement. Her siblings followed close behind, still talking enthusiastically amongst themselves. Frostfur went to follow her kits as well but paused briefly to look over her shoulder at Fireheart. She didn't say anything, but there was no need for her to do so. The warmth and gratitude in her blue eyes told him more than any words ever could.

Briefly, Fireheart wondered if Cinderpaw's father, Lionheart, was watching over his daughter from StarClan. The golden warrior had died in a battle with ShadowClan when Cinderpaw and her siblings were still in the nursery, and Fireheart wished they could have gotten to know him better. He had helped with Fireheart's own training as well, after all, and the flame-pelted warrior could only hope that he had returned the favor. Perhaps, in some way, Lionheart would be at his daughter's side when she received her warrior name today.

* * *

It was nearly sunset when the patrol, consisting of Longtail, Ravenflight, and Runningwind, finally returned to the camp. As soon as they padded through the gorse tunnel, Bluestar leaped on top of the Highrock and gave the command that signaled the start of a Clan meeting. Fireheart padded over to sit beside Sandstorm near the center of the clearing, brushing his cheek gently against her's in greeting. Ravenflight and Dustpelt sat down a few tail-lengths away, and Fernpaw and Ashpaw took a seat near the edge of the clearing. They were joined by their mother, Brindleface, and Willowpelt, who had to struggle to untangle herself from Sorrelkit and Rainkit before she was able to join her Clanmates. Sorrelkit looked disappointed, but Bramblekit gave her a comforting nudge, which seemed to do the trick in cheering her up.

At last, Cinderpaw emerged, her dark gray pelt glowing. She was surrounded by her family, who settled down in the center of the clearing. Cinderpaw kept walking until she was right in front of Bluestar, looking up at the ThunderClan leader with shining blue eyes.

"ThunderClan, our Clan has suffered greatly in the past few moons. But today, we have an occasion we can all celebrate. One of our apprentices has completed her training, despite a hardship that most of us can only imagine, and I am proud to announce that her hard work is about to receive its long-overdue recognition. Therefore, I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard–harder than most–to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. So Cinderpaw," she meowed, looking down at the younger cat. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Cinderpaw meowed, her voice ringing out clear and firm.

"Then by the power of StarClan, I grant you your warrior name. Cinderpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Cinderheart. StarClan honors your free spirit, your positivity, and your unwavering determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

She leaped down from the Highrock and padded forward to touch her muzzle to Cinderheart's head. Cinderheart licked her shoulder respectfully and stepped back, her eyes glowing, if possible, even more brightly than before.

"Cinderheart! Cinderheart!" Brackenfur, Brightheart, Thornclaw, and Frostfur cheered the young warrior's new name.

"Cinderheart! Cinderheart!" Fireheart, Sandstorm, Ravenflight, and Dustpelt picked up the call, with the rest of the Clan quickly doing so as well. Even the kits were cheering as well, much to the amusement of the queens.

"As per Clan tradition, Cinderheart will keep a silent vigil tonight," Bluestar announced as soon as the chants had died down. "That is all for today. Meeting dismissed."

"Come on, Cinderheart!" Brightheart meowed eagerly. "Let's have a meal to celebrate. Your first piece of fresh-kill as a real warrior!"

"Sure, Brightheart," Cinderheart agreed, padding off in the direction of the fresh-kill pile with her sister. The rest of her family joined them as well, taking a piece of prey each before walking over to the clump of nettles near the spot where the warriors shared their meals.

"Come on, we should get something to eat ourselves," Sandstorm meowed, getting to her paws. "You can pick something for us to share, and I'll get something for our kits."

"Might as well take the entire fresh-kill pile with their appetites," Fireheart joked. Sandstorm chuckled and shook her head fondly.

Now that Cinderheart had her warrior name, it was time to turn his attention to other pressing matters. Snowkit would begin his training within a few days, and Fireheart knew they were about to enter uncharted territory. Never before had a Clan trained a deaf apprentice. Not only that, but there were still several repairs to the camp that needed to be made. The Clan had been working from sunrise to sunset ever since they had returned home, but with all the damage the fire had caused, their efforts had seemingly remained unrewarded.

However, they could worry about that in the morning. For now, the Clan could bask in the enjoyment of seeing Cinderheart become a full warrior of ThunderClan at last.

* * *

**SHE DID IT, EVERYONE! TIME TO PARTY! **

**So yeah, I decided to change her warrior name to Cinderheart. I figured that would suit her better than Cinderpelt, and considering the _real _Cinderheart doesn't exist in this AU (since, you know, the entire reason for her reincarnation was BS and isn't even a thing in this series), it seemed like the perfect suffix to use. I also just...don't really like the name Cinderpelt. Even if she didn't become a warrior, considering how much she went through in order to get to where she was as a medicine cat, you'd think that they'd try a _little _harder in coming up with a suitable name for her. Now, it is possible that she was named for Silverpelt, but it still reads more like, "Your pelt is the color of cinders, so I'm going to name you Cinderpelt, perfect!" **

**Responses to a few reviews: **

**Dave: Thank you! Yes, Fireheart is incredibly salty. We all know where he gets it from too (*looks pointedly at Bluestar*). **

**scarlett quagmire: Oh, don't worry. Fireheart will forever be a salty, unapologetic little devil even after he becomes Clan leader. But he's still nice. So there's that. **

**Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Hmm, a good Tigerstar...well, the only problem with that is I still need _someone _to bring Scourge and BloodClan into the forest. But who knows, maybe I can figure something out. No promises, though. You'll just have to find out as the story progresses :). **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	3. Snowpaw's Training

Fireheart stood off to the side, watching as Speckletail attempted to teach Snowpaw the hunting crouch. They had been going at it since just before sunhigh, yet there didn't seem to be any progress being made. Snowpaw was having the time of his life, batting at his mother's paws and rolling about in the grass, but he wasn't copying her movements with any accuracy. After a few more failed attempts, Speckletail gave up, sitting down with a heavy sigh.

"I don't know what to do, Fireheart. I can't get him to copy me," the old queen meowed despondently.

"That wasn't too bad," Fireheart lied. Speckletail gave him a disbelieving look and he meowed hastily, "Well no, it was pretty terrible, but I know you can do it. You just need to figure out a way to let him know that he's supposed to copy your movements."

"But we don't have a signal for that yet," Speckletail meowed with a sigh. "And I can't think of one that would be simple enough to use."

Fireheart thought for a few moments, frowning as he tried to think of a way to solve the problem. Speckletail was right; it was difficult to come up with signals. Even after nearly a quarter moon of training, the only ones anyone had come up with were the typical directional tail gestures taught to every member of the Clan, regardless of they were deaf or not, and "Watch me".

Then, slowly, an idea began to form in his mind. It wasn't the most refined idea in the world, borne of desperation, but it was the best he could come up with. Muttering the plan to himself, Fireheart turned to face Speckletail again.

"I think I have an idea that could work," he meowed. "But I'm going to need your help with it."

"Of course, Fireheart. What do you need me to do?" Speckletail asked, her eyes shining with hope.

"Once I get Snowpaw's attention, I want you to stand a few tail-lengths apart from me. I have a signal that I'm going to try to use," Fireheart explained. "I'll perform the signal, and then I'll go down into the hunting crouch. Your job is to do the same immediately after me. Hopefully, if we repeat that enough times, Snowpaw will be able to connect the signal with the command to copy your movements."

Speckletail pondered his suggestion for a few heartbeats, then nodded. "Let's give it a try."

Fireheart nodded and walked over to Snowpaw, who was staring at a sparrow on top of a nearby tree. He tapped the younger tom on the shoulder to get his attention. Once Snowpaw had turned his gaze onto him, he tapped the white apprentice in between his eyes, then gestured between himself and Speckletail with a sweeping motion of his tail.

_Watch us. _

Snowpaw nodded and sat down obediently, his eyes fixated on his mother and the ThunderClan deputy. Fireheart padded away until he was standing about three tail-lengths away from Speckletail. Checking to make sure that Snowpaw was still watching, he made a circular motion on the ground in front of him, moved his paw in Speckletail's direction, and made another circle. Then, he allowed his body to fall into the hunting crouch, with Speckletail doing so immediately afterward. They stood up again, and Fireheart repeated the signal. And once again, both warriors went into the hunting crouch.

_Draw a circle, draw a line, and another circle. Then crouch. _

_Draw a circle, line, and another circle. Then crouch. _

_Circle, line, circle, crouch. _

_Copy me. _

They repeated this process several times until, at last, Snowpaw's blue eyes lit up in understanding. He nodded eagerly, waving his tail from side to side, indicating that he wanted to try the hunting crouch one more time. Fireheart moved to the side to allow Speckletail to place herself in front of her son. She repeated the same signal Fireheart had used, then went into the hunting crouch. After a moment of hesitation, Snowpaw copied his mother's movement. He was a little off-balance and his movements were on the slow side, but that didn't matter. He was _doing _it. They had finally figured out how to get him to copy his mentors' actions.

"Well done, Snowpaw," Fireheart meowed approvingly, touching his nose gently to the younger cat's ear. _I'm proud of you. _

"Thank you, Fireheart," Speckletail meowed gratefully. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Maybe, maybe not," Fireheart replied awkwardly. "But we still have a lot of work to do. Now, we need to get Snowpaw to fine-tune his movements. Let's try to think of a signal that we can use to get him to improve his balance. And then we'll have to see what we can do about his pace..."

* * *

They continued training until just after sunset. Eventually, it became clear that Snowpaw was growing tired, so they decided to call it a day and headed back to the camp. Despite his exhaustion, however, the white tom's head and tail were raised proudly. After an entire afternoon of training, he had managed to perform a near-perfect hunting crouch three times. The only lingering issue was his pacing, but Fireheart knew that would improve as he got into better shape.

When they arrived back at the camp, Snowpaw bounded over to the mossy stump where the apprentices shared their meals, taking a seat beside Fernpaw and Ashpaw. The two older apprentices waved their tails in greeting, and he nodded back happily. Fireheart chuckled to himself, then turned and padded over to speak to Bluestar, who was sitting underneath the Highrock. He sat down beside the blue-gray molly, feeling her tongue rasp over his forehead as he did so.

"How was Snowpaw's training today?" his mother asked.

"Good. Great, actually. We managed to teach him the hunting crouch," Fireheart told her, pride for the young apprentice leaking into his mew.

"I'm glad to hear it," Bluestar murmured. "There was a time when I worried about Snowpaw's future. It isn't often that a deaf cat is able to become a warrior. But I'm glad to see that he has the right cats to support him."

"That, and Speckletail would never let us hear the end of it if we didn't turn her son into a warrior," Fireheart added, and the ThunderClan leader laughed.

The two cats fell silent for several long moments. Fireheart gazed around the camp at his Clanmates, sharing meals or patching up the camp wall. Although they had made significant progress in repairing their camp, it was still too exposed for anyone's liking. An owl screeched from somewhere in the distance, and Fireheart pressed himself instinctively against his mother's fur, feeling her tail brush gently over his shoulders.

Tigerstar was the leader of ShadowClan, and no one knew when or where he would finally decide to exact his revenge on his old Clanmates. Everyone knew that ThunderClan was vulnerable after the fire, and RiverClan would no doubt be seeking repayment soon. Even in the comfort of their own home, they still weren't safe. The queens refused to let their kits away from the nursery for too long, fearful that a hawk might swoop down and take one of them.

Fireheart wouldn't trade the life of a warrior for anything in the world, and he certainly had no intention of going back to being a kittypet. At times like this, however, it was hard not to feel envious of their comfortable, mostly danger-free lifestyle.

* * *

**Snowpaw is starting his training! It's going to be a long process, but our boi is going to become a warrior one day. I decided to skip over Snowpaw's apprentice ceremony since I didn't want to have two chapters in a row with special Clan ceremonies, but I'll make sure to give him an on-screen warrior ceremony when the time comes. **

**I think I just murdered the word ceremony. **

**Also, I have a plan for Darkstripe and Tigerstar...not going to say what it is, but it does involve a certain angry black gremlin cat. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	4. Family Talks and Trouble Brewing

Bluestar watched from the edge of the camp as Fireheart prepared to lead a hunting patrol consisting of Snowpaw, Whitestorm, Fernpaw, and Dustpelt out of the camp. The flame-pelted warrior meowed something to Whitestorm, Fernpaw, and Dustpelt before repeating what he'd said to Snowpaw through signals. He curled his tail until it was coiled tightly like a snake; perhaps he was saying that they would be hunting at Snakerocks. Then Fireheart tapped Snowpaw gently on both shoulders, which Bluestar understood to mean, _Be careful_.

She purred to herself as she watched her son lead the patrol out through the gorse tunnel. Fireheart had grown into a fine deputy, and she knew he would make a great leader one day. Perhaps he would even get to be a leader alongside Mistyfoot or Stonefur if one of them ever became RiverClan leader one day. They were both fine warriors; surely one of them was in the conversation to become the next Clan deputy.

In all likelihood, it was only a matter of time before they found out. Crookedstar was getting old, and Bluestar had heard rumors that her old friend's health wasn't what it used to be. It was hard to disagree with the rumors; after all, she had barely seen hide nor hair of him while they were staying in the RiverClan camp. Leopardfur had been the one to take care of her Clan while they were taking shelter from the fire.

_Not that I can talk, really, _she thought to herself in amusement. _After all, I do have several grandchildren now. _

She wouldn't have traded the family she had for anything in the world, but sometimes, Bluestar wondered how things would have turned out if she hadn't fallen in love with Oakheart or if she had fallen in love with him after she became ThunderClan's leader. Perhaps she would have gotten to spend a few more moons with Mistyfoot and Stonefur–maybe she wouldn't have had to give them up at all. Mosskit probably would have survived as well. She could have raised her kits in ThunderClan, where they _should _have grown up all along. Oakheart could have joined ThunderClan as well, or perhaps she would have let the Clan continue believing that Thrushpelt was their father.

But then again, if that had happened, she might never have become mates with Thrushpelt, which meant Fireheart wouldn't have been born. As much as it hurt to see Mistyfoot and Stonefur grow up in another Clan–and that wasn't even half as painful as passing by Mosskit's grave every time she had to patrol Sunningrocks–she couldn't imagine a life without Fireheart. He was her baby, her youngest–although, he hated being referred to as such.

A small thump at her side told Bluestar that she had company. She turned her head to see Squirrelkit sitting beside her, peering up at her with innocent green eyes almost exactly like her father's. Bluestar purred to herself; she could still remember seeing that look in Firekit's eyes when she caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"Hello there," she greeted Squirrelkit. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the nursery?"

"I wanted to explore the camp," the fluffy ginger kit meowed. Bluestar purred.

"Not much to explore, I'm afraid," she meowed. "But don't worry, you'll be an apprentice soon enough, and then you'll have the entire forest to explore."

"Really?" Squirrelkit asked excitedly. Bluestar nodded. "Yay!"

The ThunderClan leader gave a small chuckle. "You know, you remind me a lot of your father," she murmured.

Squirrelkit tilted her head to the side. "Do you mean Fireheart?" she asked curiously. "He told us you're his mother. Are you really? You look a lot like Rainkit."

"I am," Bluestar confirmed.

"I like my dad," Squirrelkit announced. "He's funny. When I grow up, I want to have kits too so I can be just like him. And then later, I want to become our Clan deputy so I can be the leader one day. And I'll make Tawnykit be my deputy. Or maybe Bramblekit. Or Redkit or Rainkit. But not Spotkit because he wants to be a medicine cat. Do you think I would make a good leader? What do you think my warrior name will be?"

Bluestar chuckled. "I don't know what your warrior name will be yet, Squirrelkit. That won't be decided until several moons in the future."

"Oh." Squirrelkit looked a little disappointed. "But...do you think I would make a good leader?"

"I'm sure you would be just fine," Bluestar meowed gently.

Squirrelkit perked up immediately.

A little while later, Fireheart's patrol emerged through the gorse tunnel. They were each carrying a fair amount of prey, so the hunt had clearly been a success. Yet even from her vantage point, Bluestar could still see the tense, worried expression on her kit's face. He dropped off his load in the fresh-kill pile and meowed something to Whitestorm before turning and walking over in her direction. Squirrelkit let out a joyful yelp at seeing her father and bounded over to greet him, her tail sticking in the air with excitement.

"Hi, Dad!" she meowed happily.

"Hello, Squirrelkit," Fireheart meowed, giving his daughter a gentle lick between her ears. "I hope you weren't bothering Bluestar."

"It's alright, Fireheart," Bluestar meowed, getting to her paws and padding over to the two younger cats. "She's quite the entertaining little kit. She was just telling me about her plans to become our Clan's leader one day."

"Is that so?" the ginger tom asked, chuckling.

"Yep!" Squirrelkit chirped. "I'm going to become the best Clan leader in the whole forest!"

"I know you will be," Fireheart purred. His tone grew serious as he continued, "Squirrelkit, do you mind going back to the nursery for a bit? There's something I need to talk to Bluestar about."

"Okay," the fluffy ginger molly agreed, bounding off in the direction of the nursery. She paused for a moment and asked, "Will you play moss ball with me later?"

"Of course," Fireheart replied gently. Squirrelkit cheered and practically bounced the rest of the way to the nursery. He chuckled before turning to Bluestar again, his expression growing somber.

"Right," he meowed. "I'll just give it to you straight. We picked up the scent of a dog while we were hunting at Snakerocks today."

Bluestar tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure that's something we need to be concerned about?" she pointed out. "It's not uncommon for Twolegs to walk their dogs on our territory. They're annoying, but they're usually tied up."

However, her son merely shook his head. "I would believe that, but the entire place was _reeking _of dog," he meowed. "Even if the Twolegs were walking their dogs recently, it shouldn't have smelled _that _bad. It was a fresh scent as well, but we didn't pick up any Twoleg scent. I don't know if the dog stench was just masking it or if there really wasn't any at all, but either way, the smell was so awful, we decided to go to Fourtrees instead."

Bluestar frowned. "Did you see any dogs there? At Snakerocks, I mean."

"No," Fireheart admitted. "But we did find something else. Before we left for Fourtrees, Dustpelt found two dead pigeons. Both of them smelled of dog."

"I see," Bluestar murmured, half to herself. "Thank you, Fireheart. I'll make an announcement to the Clan later to let everyone know to be careful when they go that way. I hope there won't turn out to be any threat to ThunderClan, but we shouldn't get too comfortable."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Bluestar bounded on top of the Highrock and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting."

She watched as, slowly, her warriors rose from various spots around the camp and came to sit at the base of the Highrock. Fireheart sat down in the middle of the camp, with Sandstorm taking the spot beside him. Whitestorm and Willowpelt sat a few tail-lengths away, and Brindleface sat with her children, Fernpaw and Ashpaw. Snowpaw and Speckletail came next, and Bluestar assumed that the tabby queen would be translating the meeting for her kit.

"Earlier today, it was brought to my attention that a patrol picked up the scent of a dog at Snakerocks," Bluestar meowed once everyone had settled down. "So I need to know now, has anyone else picked up any dog scent anywhere else on our territory?"

For a few moments, her warriors glanced between themselves uncertainly. Then Cinderheart stood up, looking a bit nervous about speaking up in front of so many older warriors.

"I haven't scented any dogs anywhere," she meowed. "But I was out hunting earlier this morning, and I saw some Twolegs on our territory. They were shouting as if they were looking for something, but I don't think they ever found it."

Fireheart turned his head to her sharply. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"I forgot until now," Cinderheart answered sheepishly. Fireheart didn't look pleased, but he let the matter drop.

Bluestar pondered over the revelation in her mind for a few heartbeats. She didn't want to be too paranoid, but the fact that Cinderheart had stumbled across a group of Twolegs searching for something they had apparently lost on the same day that Fireheart's patrol had scented a dog at Snakerocks seemed too convenient to be entirely coincidental. It was clear that she had a lot more to worry about now. If this wasn't a coincidence, that meant there was a dog loose in their territory. Most dogs weren't a threat as long as they were tied up to their Twolegs, but Bluestar knew firsthand how dangerous they could be when they managed to free themselves. Thistleclaw had nearly gotten himself killed fighting a dog–incidentally, that was also the battle that earned him his warrior name.

"Very well," she meowed finally, shaking her head to clear away any thoughts of her old rival. "I hope this will all be cleared up soon, but in the meantime, we should be careful. Apprentices are not to go out alone, and if you decide to hunt at Snakerocks, make sure you have at least one other cat with you. And report to me or Fireheart if you see or smell anything suspicious. Meeting dismissed."

She jumped down from the Highrock as the Clan broke apart into groups, all of them whispering amongst themselves. All of them were clearly worried about the dog, and Bluestar couldn't blame them. It wasn't the first time a dog had gotten loose in their territory, but they had always been able to drive them off fairly quickly. But no one had seen this dog, and she certainly wasn't about to send a patrol to hunt it down. Snakerocks was dangerous enough as it was, but if there was a dog living there as well, they wouldn't be able to hunt there until it was either captured or decided to leave.

Bluestar headed back towards her den, pausing briefly to watch as Fireheart played a game of moss ball with Squirrelkit. The little ginger molly batted at the plaything happily, clearly delighted at being able to spend time with her father. She had always been the closest to him out of all her siblings. Chuckling to herself, Bluestar turned and walked the rest of the way to her den, suddenly in a much lighter mood than before.

No matter what dangers lurked outside the camp, it was nice to know that life inside the camp would continue on as normal–especially if it meant getting to watch Fireheart playing with his children.


	5. Darkstripe's Plight

Ever since Darkstripe was an apprentice, he had dreamed of ruling his Clan with Tigerstar someday. Together, they would ensure that ThunderClan was the strongest Clan in the entire forest. Outsiders would be chased out of their territory or killed without question, and they would be feared by all their neighbors. Even StarClan themselves would tremble before them.

Now that his dream had come true, however, Darkstripe was quickly beginning to realize that things weren't going exactly how he'd imagined they would.

Not only was he stuck being ShadowClan's deputy instead of ThunderClan's, but it also didn't feel as though he had any new power in his role at all. Tigerstar never consulted him on any Clan business, and he would often take over Darkstripe's duties without telling him. Just that morning, he had organized the patrols for the day while Darkstripe was still asleep. He wanted desperately to be able to prove to Tigerstar that he was worthy of his respect, but not being able to perform his duties made that task extremely difficult.

_Maybe this is normal, _he told himself. _Maybe the deputy doesn't really have as much power in the Clan as they seem to. _

But even so, he couldn't make himself believe it. Before he had attempted to kill her, Bluestar had always trusted Tigerstar's judgment. She had never done anything to try to undermine his authority; indeed, she gave him more free reign than most leaders. The previous leader of ThunderClan, Sunstar, had consulted Bluestar–Bluefur then–on just about every matter that fell into the Clan's paws. And while Darkstripe didn't know much about the Clan politics in RiverClan or WindClan, he was willing to bet that Crookedstar and Tallstar at least allowed their deputies to perform their assigned duties as well.

Shaking his head, Darkstripe stood up and padded out of the camp, intent on hunting for a while. If he couldn't please Tigerstar by being the best deputy in the forest, then he would do so by being the best warrior in ShadowClan. The dark tabby had always given him constant praise when he was an apprentice, and Darkstripe was confident that he could earn that favor back. Sooner or later, Tigerstar would have to take notice of him again.

As luck would have it, however, all of the prey in the marshes had apparently decided to hide for the day. No matter where he looked, he couldn't seem to find even the smallest frog. Darkstripe's pelt burned with frustration; why was StarClan so determined to keep him from pleasing his leader?

_No matter, _he thought. _I'll just keep searching, then. _

Before he knew it, he found himself at the edge of the Thunderpath, looking over into ThunderClan's forest. On the other side of the Thunderpath, a rabbit raced past before disappearing into a bush. Darkstripe wanted to yowl his frustrations to the sky; of course, the first prey he stumbled across happened to be on another Clan's territory. As tempting as it was to run across and chase after the rabbit, even Darkstripe wasn't foolish enough to risk getting caught by a ThunderClan patrol.

On the other hand, however...there didn't appear to be anyone else coming. The woods in his old home were utterly silent; a patrol wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. Just to be safe, he tasted the air. It was a bit difficult to pick up anything over the stench emitting from the Thunderpath, but from what he could gather, there weren't any ThunderClan cats in the area.

_Should I do it? _

He glanced back over his shoulder. None of his Clanmates were anywhere to be seen. If he was quick, he could run across the Thunderpath, catch the rabbit, and be back before anyone else noticed that something was amiss. That way, he could catch food for his Clan _and _Tigerstar would be proud of him.

Making a split-second decision, Darkstripe raced across the Thunderpath and in the direction he'd seen the rabbit disappear into. A quick sniff told him that his prey hadn't moved. Dropping into the hunting crouch, he padded forward swiftly and silently, pouncing at the last heartbeat and sinking his teeth into the rabbit's throat. He sat up triumphantly, the rabbit dangling from his jaws.

But now wasn't the time to celebrate. Checking to make sure that a patrol hadn't arrived, Darkstripe darted back across the Thunderpath and deep into his own territory. He didn't stop until he was sure that he was a safe distance away from the Thunderpath. His heart was pounding heavily in his chest as he tried to comprehend what he had just done.

What had he done? He had just broken the warrior code! He had stolen prey from another Clan–from _ThunderClan_, no less. If they found his scent on their territory, they would be out for his blood. They already had more than enough reason to despise him, and he had just given them yet another one.

"Darkstripe?" a voice meowed from behind him. "Is everything alright? You look a little stressed out."

Darkstripe blinked, then turned around to the brown-furred molly behind him. "I'm fine, Russetfur," he replied curtly.

"Okay," Russetfur meowed, clearly not entirely convinced. Fortunately, she chose not to press him any further and turned her attention to his rabbit instead. "That's a great catch you've got yourself there. Where did you manage to find something that big? I've been searching all afternoon, but I can't even find a mouse."

"Just got lucky, I guess," Darkstripe mumbled, averting his eyes to stare down at the ground.

"Don't be so modest," Russetfur scolded him. "Catching prey requires more than just luck. You should be proud; we're going to be eating well tonight. Come on, we should take your rabbit back to the camp. I'm sure Tigerstar will be pleased to see how well you've done."

Darkstripe immediately felt cheered by the russet-colored warrior's words. Russetfur was right; Tigerstar _had _to be pleased with him now. The rest of the Clan would surely be singing him praises alongside him too. Perhaps he had done the right thing after all in stealing the rabbit. After all, didn't the warrior code say that warriors were supposed to be loyal to their Clan above all else? What could possibly show more loyalty than going to any means necessary to make sure his Clanmates were well-fed?

When they arrived back at the camp, Tigerstar was standing beside the fresh-kill pile alongside Jaggedtooth and Rowanpaw. Darkstripe felt a surge of excitement at seeing his former mentor and friend. His head and tail held high, he strode forward to greet the trio of warriors at the prey pile. He stopped dead, however, as he picked up on their conversation.

"Rowanpaw caught his first prey today," Jaggedtooth was telling Tigerstar proudly. "A frog–a quick one, mind you, and his technique was flawless."

"Is that so?" Tigerstar asked, looking down at the young apprentice. "Well done indeed, Rowanpaw. A few more good reports from your mentor, and we'll be having your warrior ceremony in no time. The Clan has much to be proud of with you in our ranks."

Hearing his leader praise Rowanpaw, Darkstripe felt a surge of bitter resentment. He turned away sharply, taking his rabbit to the other side of the camp. If his efforts weren't going to receive the same accolades, he wasn't going to bother saying anything. The dark gray tabby took a bad-tempered bite out of his food, his pelt seething with anger.

_A frog! _Darkstripe raged silently. _A puny, pathetic frog, and it's treated as if it's the greatest catch a cat has ever made. I caught a bigger piece of prey than Rowanpaw. That should be me receiving Tigerstar's praise, not him! _

What had he done wrong? Why had everyone ignored him in favor of an apprentice? No one had even glanced his way when he came back into the camp. It was as if he didn't even exist.

Could it be that he hadn't done enough somehow? The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that this was the answer. Even if he had managed to catch a bigger piece of prey, he _had _only managed to catch one piece. That was unacceptable coming from a warrior of his strength and skill set. He should have been able to bring back at least half a day's worth of fresh-kill.

_Yes, _he thought decisively. _That must be the reason. _

Feeling slightly more content, Darkstripe finished off the rest of his rabbit before heading into the warriors' den for a short nap. Today had been a disappointment as usual, but it had also been a learning experience. If he wanted to earn Tigerstar's approval, he was going to have to do more than just serve his Clan well. He had to be the best. No, more than that, he had to be _perfect_. From now on, even the smallest mistake would be unacceptable. He had to win every single battle and catch every piece of prey that crossed his path. Then maybe, just maybe, he would finally be someone deemed worthy of attention.


	6. Strange Scents and Sightings

Fireheart led a border patrol consisting of Swiftrunner, Sandstorm, and Runningwind over near the RiverClan border. It had been a peaceful day so far, but the flame-pelted warrior wasn't about to let himself relax. Over the past few days, the patrols had reported picking up a ShadowClan warrior's scent inside their territory, but no one had seen who it was. Bluestar had ordered that every single scent marker be re-marked daily, including the borders for their other neighbors as well.

As they drew closer to the border, Fireheart spotted Graystripe on the other side of the river. The gray warrior was glancing around anxiously, but he didn't look as though he were hunting or patrolling. Instead, he looked as though he were looking for something. The rest of Fireheart's patrol came to a halt, staring across the bank at their former Clanmate.

"What's he doing?" Swiftrunner asked incredulously. "Typical RiverClan cats. He's just lazing about!"

"No idea," Fireheart meowed, deciding it wasn't worth his time. "Come on, let's just remake the scent markings and be on our way."

Unfortunately, it seemed that StarClan had other ideas in mind. At that moment, Graystripe finally spotted his patrol. Before anyone could say or do anything, the RiverClan warrior had jumped into the river and was swimming across to their side of the bank. He climbed out of the water, shaking his fur off to dry it.

"Get out!" Sandstorm spat, jumping back as she was hit by the spinning droplets. "This is ThunderClan territory, in case you hadn't noticed! You don't belong here."

"I know," Graystripe meowed urgently. "But there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Fireheart asked suspiciously. Graystripe did sound worried about something, but he knew better than to trust a traitor. "This had better be good. We have a patrol to finish, and we don't need you wasting our time."

"It is, I promise," the gray tabby meowed.

"Get on with it, then," Swiftrunner snapped.

Graystripe glanced over at the younger warrior and meowed, "The other day, Tigerstar tried to come to our camp to pay Crookedstar a visit. He's been ill recently, and Tigerstar said that he wanted to pay his last respects. None of our warriors would let him in and he left eventually, but I thought it was strange, so I decided to let you guys know."

For a moment, the ThunderClan cats merely stared at him. Finally, Runningwind meowed, "It doesn't sound as though it's anything that could concern us, though. Whether or not Tigerstar chooses to visit Crookedstar is between ShadowClan and RiverClan alone."

"You have a point," Graystripe admitted. "But don't you think it's a bit strange? I mean, Tigerstar doesn't seem like the type of cat who would want to pay his respects to anyone. He'd probably just tell Crookedstar that the fact that he's dying shows weakness."

Fireheart had to admit that his former friend could be on to something, but he knew he couldn't put his Clan at risk by investigating whatever it might be. Runningwind was right; what happened between ShadowClan and RiverClan was none of their concern. There was no doubt that Tigerstar was up to something, and he didn't need a visit from Graystripe to tell him that. But he had more important matters to worry about in his own Clan, and he didn't have time to worry about what the leader of ShadowClan was doing at any given moment.

"Thank you for telling us, but I'm afraid this is something you'll have to work out on your own," Fireheart meowed at last. "We have matters in ThunderClan that we need to take care of first. Until Tigerstar's visit proves to affect us in any way, we're going to stay out of this one."

Graystripe dipped his head. "I understand," he replied.

Fireheart nodded, and Sandstorm hissed, "Go! Now, before someone else finds you here!"

The gray warrior turned around and climbed back into the river, swimming across to his own territory. Once he was gone, Fireheart turned away and led the patrol further along the border. His mind was still spinning from the conversation with Graystripe. Although he wasn't interested in getting ThunderClan involved, he knew that he would have to inform Bluestar of what had happened. The last thing they needed was to be caught off guard by a surprise alliance between RiverClan and ShadowClan, and knowing Tigerstar, it was far more likely that he was after that instead of trying to pay his last respects to Crookedstar.

Fireheart let out a sigh, the weight of his troubles making his paws feel heavy. Every single day, it seemed as though there was a new threat arising from somewhere in the forest. He was beginning to feel as though they wouldn't have a single moon of peace ever again.

"Is everything okay, Fireheart?" Sandstorm asked, her pale green eyes shining with concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine," he meowed, shaking himself off. "Just thinking, I guess. Graystripe's story has me a bit worried."

"I know, I feel the same way," his mate admitted. "But I don't know what else we can do. We don't know for sure what Tigerstar was up to–I mean, we can probably make a good guess, but we still don't know anything for certain–and anyway, it doesn't sound as though his plan worked out the way he wanted. RiverClan is still completely against Tigerstar's leadership, just like the rest of the forest. As long as that continues, I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."

"You're probably right," Fireheart agreed. "Still, I'll feel a lot better when this is all over."

"I think we all will," Runningwind spoke up. "Especially if it means being able to cut down on the number of border patrols. I haven't had a proper night's sleep in days."

"Well, you could always try going to the nursery and telling the queens you've had a nightmare if you're having trouble sleeping," Fireheart suggested jokingly. Swiftrunner and Sandstorm chuckled.

Runningwind, for his part, merely rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Fireheart, very funny."

* * *

Back at the camp, Fireheart brought the news of Graystripe's story to Bluestar. His mother listened intently as he told her what they had learned, her blue gaze growing troubled as he went on. As soon as he finished the story, she began pressing him for more details.

"Did Graystripe tell you anything else?" she asked. "Did Tigerstar say that he was going to come back, or did he agree to leave them alone?"

"He didn't say," Fireheart admitted. He knew that most of the reason for Bluestar's concern was worry over her older kits, Mistyfoot and Stonefur. "But I doubt Tigerstar will stay away for long. He isn't the type of cat to give up easily."

"No, he isn't," Bluestar agreed, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "This is definitely concerning."

"What do you think we should do about it?" Fireheart asked.

"Right now, there isn't much we can do about it," the blue-gray molly replied. "Our first priority needs to be the safety of our own Clan, and that starts with keeping our borders strong and training our apprentices. If we're lucky, perhaps this will turn out to be of no concern to ThunderClan after all. But if it turns out to be our problem, we'll figure out what to do when the time comes."

That sounded like a reasonable plan, so Fireheart nodded and turned to head over to the fresh-kill pile to grab something to eat. It had been a long afternoon, and he was looking forward to relaxing for a while. Before he could get very far, however, he was stopped as Bluestar rested her tail-tip against his shoulder.

"Fireheart?" she asked.

"Yes, Mother?" Fireheart replied, glancing back over his shoulder.

Bluestar looked him straight in the eye, her own blue gaze filled with all of a mother's worry for her kit. "Promise me you'll stay safe," she meowed softly.


	7. The Tyrant

Tigerstar stood at the edge of the ShadowClan camp, watching as the warriors–_his _warriors–enjoyed an afternoon meal as they took a short break from their duties. As always, he felt the familiar ripple of triumph course through him as his eyes traveled across the clearing. At long last, he had finally achieved his dream and taken his rightful place as the head of a Clan.

It hadn't been an easy journey to the top by any means. ShadowClan, much like the other three Clans, had been adamant in rejecting him as their leader. Tigerstar suspected that Bluestar had exposed the truth of his attempt to murder her to the other leaders. In fairness to her, he would have done the same thing if he was in her place. He would have to keep that in mind if any of his warriors turned out to be traitors.

Regardless, Bluestar hadn't accounted for the sickness that would sweep through the ShadowClan camp. The illness had claimed the lives of many ShadowClan warriors, including their leader and deputy, Nightstar and Cinderfur. Weakened as they were, they were unable to defend themselves from an attack led by Tigerstar and Brokentail's old rogues. They had defeated the devastated Clan with ease, and Tigerstar had named himself their leader.

He hadn't been planning on going to the Moonstone to receive his nine lives–he had no intention of bowing before his ancestors, and part of him didn't think they would grant him his lives anyway–but Runningnose pointed out that the Clan might turn on him if he didn't at least appear to have StarClan's blessing. It was a fair point, so Tigerstar had reluctantly agreed to make the trek to Highstones. Fortunately, the journey was shorter than he remembered it being since his territory lay closer to Highstones now. He had received his lives and returned home, naming Darkstripe as his deputy as soon as he did so.

"Tigerstar," Russetfur meowed, walking up to him and dipping her head respectfully. "We've just finished the border patrols for today. There's no sign of trouble anywhere."

"Good," Tigerstar replied, nodding. "Take another patrol out and restock the fresh-kill pile. Bring Blackfoot, Jaggedtooth, and Oakpaw along with you."

Russetfur nodded and walked over to the other three cats, who were all sharing a meal near the warriors' den. Tigerstar watched as the ginger-tinged warrior meowed something to her Clanmates, who all nodded and stood up. The patrol walked over to the camp entrance, passing by Darkstripe as he entered with four squirrels and two rabbits dangling from his jaws.

Tigerstar suppressed an urge to roll his eyes. For the past three days, Darkstripe had been returning to the camp with double the amount of prey that anyone else in the Clan managed to catch. While he certainly wasn't going to complain about having extra fresh-kill, he wished that the dark gray tabby wouldn't make it so obvious that he was trying to please him. It wasn't a good look for a real warrior to seem like a sycophant.

_I'll need to keep an eye on him, _Tigerstar thought to himself. _I don't want him getting any ideas. Darkstripe has already seen what the epitome of leadership looks like, and I have no doubt that he'll try to copy me. But he wouldn't be the right leader–for ShadowClan or anyone else. He's a good follower, but that's all he's good for. _

He stalked over to the fresh-kill pile, where Darkstripe was depositing the last of his load. The ShadowClan deputy was staring at him, his eyes wide. This time, Tigerstar did roll his eyes; Darkstripe couldn't have looked more like a kit begging for attention if he tried. Without even acknowledging his deputy, he picked up a pigeon from the pile and carried it back towards his den.

"Tigerstar?" Darkstripe called out to him.

_Fox dung, _Tigerstar swore silently. "_Yes, _Darkstripe?"

"Is there anything else you want me to do? I can go hunting again if you'd like," the dark tabby offered. "Or I could check the borders again. You never know, maybe we've been invaded since the patrols came back."

"We haven't been invaded, Darkstripe, are you a fool?" Tigerstar snapped. "And you've been out hunting quite enough for today, and you didn't even bring back enough prey to show for it. I expect more than six pieces if you've been out all morning. Besides, I already sent Russetfur to take a hunting patrol. If you want to make yourself useful, then stop bothering me and let me eat my meal in peace."

"Y-yes, of course," Darkstripe stammered, taking a few paces back. "Whatever you want, Tigerstar. I'll just be on my way, then."

With that, he turned around and fled to the opposite side of the camp. Tigerstar snorted and picked up his pigeon, carrying it the rest of the way to his den. Once he was inside, he curled up in his nest and took a bite. It was tender and juicy, just as he'd always remembered from his time in ThunderClan.

_I wonder how Bramblekit and Tawnykit are doing, _the dark brown tabby thought. _It must nearly be time for them to become apprentices. Shame they have to stay in ThunderClan with their mother, or else I could train both of them myself. They would be the strongest warriors in the entire forest. _

Tigerstar shook his head to himself. He knew that his kits would receive fine training in ThunderClan; after all, he had spent most of his life in ThunderClan, and he was the greatest warrior the forest had ever seen. Any kits that shared his blood were bound to be just as great. As long as Bluestar didn't let that kittypet Fireheart mentor any of his children, everything would be just fine.

In the meantime, he had other things to worry about in his own Clan. Darkstripe seemed to be determined to irritate him, and Tigerstar couldn't deny that he was wary of his attempts to please him. He had known the younger warrior since he was a kit, and he wouldn't trust him as far as he could throw him. Darkstripe didn't have a loyal bone in his body, not to him or any other cat. If he was trying so hard to please him, the only explanation was that he intended to turn on him when he was least expecting it.

_I'll have to pacify him, _Tigerstar decided. _I have to let him think that I approve of what he's doing. That should keep that fool happy enough to blind him to the fact that I've figured out his plan. But I need to make sure I don't go too overboard, or else he'll realize that something isn't right. _

The stars had spoken. He, Tigerstar, was the rightful leader of ShadowClan, and Darkstripe was nothing more than a mere follower. The sooner he learned his place, the better for everyone involved.

* * *

**Tigerstar, you're an asshole. But hey, at least you're good in Fire Rising. **

**Also yes, I decided to make Tigerstar completely paranoid about being betrayed because I thought it would be hilariously ironic. **

**Fair warning, the next chapter is going to be extremely gruesome and sad. Just thought I would let you know in advance. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	8. Murder

For the next half a moon, Darkstripe made repeated trips into ThunderClan territory, stealing whatever prey he could find before rushing back home. Every day, he made sure to bring back enough fresh-kill to feed the entire Clan. By now, he no longer felt guilty about the fact that he was breaking the warrior code. After all, he was doing it for the sake of his own Clan, and wasn't that what being a loyal warrior was all about?

Tigerstar was pleased with him as well. The ShadowClan leader had finally acknowledged his efforts on the second day, telling Darkstripe that he might be somewhat useful after all. Perhaps it wouldn't sound like much of a compliment to an ordinary warrior, but Darkstripe knew that getting a comment such as that out of Tigerstar was as good as it was ever going to get. Besides, if he kept bringing in more prey, maybe he could squeeze a slightly more favorable compliment out of his longtime friend.

_Yes, _Darkstripe thought in satisfaction. _I'm definitely doing the right thing. _

A mouse scurried across his path, heading for a pile of berries lying on the ground. Quickly, Darkstripe dropped into the hunting crouch and began to stalk towards it. He kept his pawsteps light, taking extra care not to step on any twigs or leaves that might give away his presence. Once he was about a tail-length away, he leaped forward, sinking his teeth into the rodent's neck. Glancing around to make sure that he hadn't been discovered, he buried the mouse under some leaves before continuing on his way. There were no ThunderClan warriors anywhere in sight; if he was lucky, he could catch a few more pieces of prey before it was time to return to his own territory.

Darkstripe padded through the forest for a little while longer, making sure to stick close to the border so he could flee if necessary. A few moments later, he scented a squirrel somewhere a few fox-lengths to the left. He turned his head to the side. Sure enough, a small squirrel was burrowing through some leaves, nibbling on the nuts and berries scattered about the forest floor.

_Stupid squirrel, _he thought. _I'm standing right next to you, and you aren't even paying attention. _

Once again, he dropped into the hunting crouch and began to stalk towards his prey. At the last second, the squirrel seemed to realize that he was there, but it was too late. Before it could do so much as twitch, Darkstripe pounced, killing it with one bite. He buried it under another pile of leaves, glancing up at the sky. It was nearly sunhigh now, which meant that the ThunderClan afternoon hunting patrol would be on its way soon. He would need to find at least three more pieces of prey, but he would have to do so quickly.

Darkstripe continued on through the forest, keeping his senses alert for any sign of wildlife. Try as he might, however, he couldn't pick up even a whiff of prey. He didn't understand it; it was the middle of the day. There should have been plenty of prey scurrying about the forest. Why had everything disappeared? He couldn't have done something to alert anyone.

Then, suddenly, it hit him. The prey must have run away or died in the fire. He had thought that everything had returned since then, but he must have caught most of it already, and there was no telling how long it would be until the rest of the prey finally came back to the forest.

"Fox dung!" Darkstripe swore, lashing his tail in anger.

What was he supposed to do now? Of _course_, it was just his luck that the forest would somehow _run out _of prey. He hadn't even thought that was possible. In his fury, Darkstripe slammed his paw against a nearby tree, letting out a howl of pure rage.

_Okay, okay, calm down, _he tried to tell himself. _The prey can't _all _be gone, can it? Surely that wouldn't be possible. It must just be somewhere deeper in ThunderClan territory, that's all. Maybe Snakerocks will have a few birds that I can catch. _

He turned around and started to head off in the direction of the adder-infested rocks. A moment later, however, he hesitated. He was already taking a massive risk just by being in ThunderClan territory; if he went too far in, he wouldn't be able to escape if he was caught. Darkstripe stood idly for a few heartbeats, conflicted on whether or not to go through with his plan or not.

Unfortunately, he ended up waiting a few moments too long. While he was still in the middle of his internal debate, he failed to notice the dark gray kit staring at him from behind. The kit, apparently displeased by the lack of attention he was showing, leaped forward and pounced on his tail.

Letting out a screech of surprise, Darkstripe whirled around, whipping his tail away from the kit. Panting heavily to get over his shock, he stared down at the small scrap of fur. He definitely wasn't one of Fireheart's litter, and he looked to be younger than Bramblekit and Tawnykit. His eyes reminded Darkstripe of Willowpelt's; perhaps she was his mother.

"Hi!" the kit meowed cheerfully. "My name's Rainkit."

"What are you doing here?" Darkstripe hissed.

"I was playing hide and seek with Sootkit and Sorrelkit," Rainkit answered, looking rather proud of himself. "I'll bet I'm going to win this time. They'll never expect me to hide outside of the camp."

Darkstripe didn't know who Sootkit and Sorrelkit were, nor did he care to find out. He was too busy panicking. If he allowed this kit to escape, he would be sure to tell ThunderClan all about the strange cat he had met on their territory. He knew what kits were like; they couldn't keep their mouths shut about anything. Even if one bribed them with all the fresh-kill they could want, they would never be able to keep a secret for long.

_What am I supposed to do? _he thought, lashing his tail as he paced back and forth. Rainkit watched him curiously, his head tilted to the side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Shut up!" Darkstripe raged, turning on the smaller tom. "Just shut up!"

Rainkit backed away, letting out a terrified squeak as he turned around and started to race back in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. Without thinking, Darkstripe lunged forward and snatched the small kit up in his jaws. The dark gray kitten squirmed and wailed in protest, but he refused to let go, searching for a way to dispose of him. Bringing him back to ShadowClan wasn't an option; he couldn't afford to do anything that might link Rainkit's disappearance with his Clan.

A monster appeared suddenly, barreling down the Thunderpath. At once, Darkstripe saw his chance. He waited until the monster was a mere fox-length away from him. Then, at the last second, he flung Rainkit into its path. Dazed by the impact of hitting the Thunderpath, the dark gray tom was unable to get out of the way in time. His small body was crushed underneath the monster's large black paws.

When the monster had disappeared, Darkstripe padded forward and sniffed at Rainkit's body. The kit's eyes were open but sightless, and his body was bent at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. There was no doubt that he was dead.

Quickly, Darkstripe gathered the fresh-kill he had caught and raced back towards his own territory. A patrol was probably on its way to find Rainkit, and he couldn't afford to be seen at the scene of the crime. He had only been doing what he had to do, but he knew that they would never understand. That was the problem with ThunderClan warriors; they were too obsessed with the warrior code. Rainkit had gotten in the way of him doing his duty to Tigerstar, so he had been forced to do away with him. In the end, that was all there was to it.

* * *

Fireheart was woken from an afternoon nap by the sound of screaming coming from the nursery. Terrified that something had happened to Sandstorm or one of his kits, he jumped out of his nest and rushed outside. A group of warriors stood outside the nursery, all of them looking around anxiously.

"What happened?" Fireheart demanded, bounding over to them. Bluestar padded over as well, abandoning the vole she had been eating.

"Rainkit is gone!" Willowpelt wailed. "Sorrelkit and Sootkit told me they were playing hide and seek, but they never found him! I looked all around the nursery, but he's not here!"

Bluestar was quick to spring into action. "Dustpelt, Ravenflight, search every den," she ordered. "Runningwind and Mousefur, you two check the area for any enemy scents. Everyone else, make sure the kits stay in the nursery until we find Rainkit."

"Swiftrunner, Brightheart, and Frostfur come with me," Fireheart meowed. "We'll take a patrol and check to see if Rainkit is anywhere else on ThunderClan territory."

"Alright, Fireheart," Frostfur meowed, Swiftrunner and Brightheart echoing her words.

Willowpelt stood up. "I'm coming too," she told him.

"I need you to stay here and take care of your other kits," Fireheart meowed gently. He understood Willowpelt's worry, but it wouldn't do for her to leave Sorrelkit and Sootkit alone. "If someone stole Rainkit, they might come back for Sorrelkit and Sootkit as well. They need you here to protect them."

The pale gray queen shook her head. "They have the other queens to protect them," she insisted. "I need to find out what happened to my son, Fireheart. I'm coming whether you like it or not!"

Realizing it wouldn't do any good to argue, Fireheart flicked his tail in agreement and led the way through the gorse tunnel. The rest of the patrol followed behind him, sniffing around for any sign of Rainkit's scent trail. Fireheart thanked StarClan that it had been a clear day; at the very least, the trail couldn't have been washed away. They should still be able to follow it long enough to figure out where Rainkit had gone.

A few tail-lengths ahead, Swiftrunner suddenly yowled, "I found it! He came this way!"

Willowpelt rushed over to him, overtaking the younger warrior as she raced off in the direction of Rainkit's scent trail. Fireheart and the rest of the patrol followed behind more slowly, keeping their eyes peeled to see if Rainkit was playing anywhere nearby. But there was nothing in sight except the usual birds, trees, and mice.

"Does the scent trail keep going?" Fireheart called out to Willowpelt.

"Yes, it does," she called back.

"How far could he have gone?" Frostfur murmured.

As they continued on their way, a pit of dread began to form in Fireheart's stomach. No one seemed to know how long Rainkit had been missing for, but from the looks of things, it had been quite some time. He could very well have been eaten by foxes or kidnapped by Twolegs at this point. Then he shook his head, scolding himself for even letting the thought cross his mind. He had to believe that Willowpelt's son was safe, at least for the Clan's sake.

_Maybe things will be alright, _Fireheart thought optimistically. _After all, we haven't picked up any fox or badger scent. That has to be a good sign, right? _

Soon, however, his cautious optimism faded away. Rainkit's trail was leading them directly to the ShadowClan border. He sniffed around, hoping that the trail would veer off into another direction, but it never did. As he was checking the area, a few paces away, Brightheart suddenly came to a stop.

"Do you smell that?" the ginger and white molly asked urgently. "There's ShadowClan scent here. It's the same warrior that's been hunting on our territory!"

Fireheart tasted the air and realized that the younger warrior was right. The ShadowClan trespasser had indeed returned, and from what he could gather, they had been there only recently. If he had to guess, he would say that it had only been a few hours since they had left.

Suddenly, Willowpelt let out a shrill scream before sinking into a dead faint. Alarmed, Fireheart rushed over to the pale queen, wondering what she had seen that had provoked such a reaction from her. He scanned the surrounding area, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Great StarClan, no!" Brightheart exclaimed, staring at something on the Thunderpath.

Fireheart followed her gaze to see where she was looking. His heart stopped cold. Lying in the middle of the Thunderpath, barely visible and nearly blending in with the treacherous path, was the still, broken body of Rainkit.


	9. Grieving

Fireheart padded over to the dead kit's body and sniffed at it. A putrid stench emanated from Rainkit's still form, threatening to choke him, and his eyes, though still filled with terror, were glazed and unseeing. There was another scent on him as well, but it was difficult to discern who, or what, it was amidst the stench of death and the Thunderpath. He was clearly dead, and by the look of things, he had been dead for a few hours now. Sighing, Fireheart turned around to face Willowpelt, who was staring at him with a desperate, hopeful expression on her face. He shook his head sadly, and the pale gray queen sank to the ground in despair.

"No!" she wailed, throwing her head back in despair. "Oh, no!"

Frostfur rushed over to Willowpelt to try to comfort her, but the grieving queen just shrugged her off. Fireheart stared at them uncertainly. He wanted to do something to help Willowpelt, but he couldn't think of anything. Deciding to let Frostfur handle the situation, he turned away and walked over to Brightheart and Swiftrunner.

"Let's get Rainkit's body back to the camp," he meowed quietly. "The Clan will want to have a proper burial for him, and anyway, we shouldn't leave him here to be run over by any more monsters."

The two younger warriors nodded and walked over to Rainkit's body. Before they could pick him up, however, Willowpelt got back to her paws and rushed over to snatch up her dead son. Brightheart and Swiftrunner stepped back to allow her to carry Rainkit off the Thunderpath, watching sadly as his tail dragged lifelessly on the ground.

"Are you ready?" Fireheart asked gently.

Willowpelt nodded, her blue eyes dull with misery. A moment later, however, she froze and started sniffing the air. Confused, Fireheart watched as she placed her son's body back on the ground, apparently searching for something on his pelt. Eventually, she found it, and the expression in her eyes turned from grief to pure fury.

"Darkstripe," she snarled.

"What?" Fireheart asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Darkstripe! His scent is on Rainkit's body! He killed Rainkit!" Willowpelt screeched, her claws sliding out as though she were imagining the ShadowClan deputy standing in front of her.

"_What?_" Frostfur exclaimed, rushing over to them. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive it's him!" the pale gray queen hissed, her voice filled with absolute certainty. "I'm his mother. I would know his scent anywhere! My own son killed his half-brother!"

"But why would Darkstripe kill Rainkit?" Swiftrunner asked, shaking his head. "He doesn't even know him."

"I don't know," Willowpelt meowed in despair. "But I _know _it's him."

Fireheart stared at Willowpelt in horror, not wanting to believe that what she was saying could be true. But the more he thought about it, the more everything started to make sense. _That _was why the strange, unidentifiable scent on Rainkit's body had been so familiar: it had been Darkstripe the whole time! But why would Darkstripe try to kill a kit? He had never been an avid follower of the warrior code, but Fireheart had always thought he was too spineless to do anything except pad after Tigerstar like a lost kittypet.

Slowly, however, a picture began to form in his mind. In his mind's eye, he saw Darkstripe on ThunderClan territory, several stolen pieces of prey buried under leaves or mounds of dirt. He saw Rainkit running up to Darkstripe, and the ShadowClan warrior dragging him onto the Thunderpath, a monster approaching rapidly.

"Willowpelt," Fireheart began slowly. "You said Rainkit, Sorrelkit, and Sootkit were playing hide and seek earlier, correct?"

"Yes, that's right," Willowpelt meowed, nodding earnestly. "I was taking a nap. But I woke up when Sorrelkit and Sootkit told me they couldn't find their brother."

_So that's what happened, then, _Fireheart thought grimly. Out loud, he meowed, "That explains it. Rainkit probably left the camp so he could beat his littermates in their game. While he was out, he ran into Darkstripe on our territory. I'm guessing that he's the ShadowClan warrior whose scent we keep picking up around here. Darkstripe probably panicked over being caught and decided to kill Rainkit to keep him from telling anyone in ThunderClan what he had seen. He forced Rainkit onto the Thunderpath right as a monster was coming by, and Rainkit was either too confused or didn't have enough time to escape."

"You're right, that must be what happened!" Willowpelt agreed. She dug her claws into the ground, her tail lashing. "When I get my claws on that good-for-nothing disgrace of a warrior, I'll make sure he has the slowest, most painful death in the history of the Clans! I'll make him beg for mercy as I scatter his entrails from here to the territories beyond Highstones! How dare he? He murdered my son! I'll never forgive him! First, he betrays his Clan for Tigerstar, and now he's killed his own brother!"

She spun around, rushing towards the Thunderpath as though intending to seek out Darkstripe right then and there. Before she could cross, however, Frostfur knocked her off her paws, pinning the pale gray queen to the ground. Willowpelt struggled and spat, but she was powerless against the white-furred warrior, who was in much better shape than she was.

"Get off, Frostfur!" Willowpelt snarled. "I need to get to Darkstripe! He killed Rainkit! I'll kill him! I–I'll make him–"

"I _know, _Willowpelt," Frostfur meowed desperately. "I know you want revenge for your son–I would too if I were in your place. But you can't just run off into ShadowClan territory like that! You'll get yourself killed, and then where would the rest of your kits be? They still need their mother."

Willowpelt stopped struggling, though her eyes still burned with grief and rage for her son. Hesitantly, Fireheart padded over to the two queens and lowered his head to address the grieving molly.

"I swear on my life that we _will _make Darkstripe pay for this," he meowed firmly. "No matter what it takes, we'll see to it that he gets what he deserves. We won't rest until we see that justice has been served, Willowpelt, I promise. But we can't go looking for Darkstripe now. He's probably already left our territory, and we're not in any state to lead a battle patrol straight into the heart of ShadowClan territory. Right now, our priority needs to be taking Rainkit back home so his Clan can mourn for him properly."

For a few heartbeats, Willowpelt just stared at him, her expression filled with pain. Slowly, however, she nodded and relaxed. Sensing the danger had passed, Frostfur stepped off of her, allowing the pale gray queen to stagger back to her paws. She padded back over to Rainkit's body, picking him up and walking slowly in the direction of the ThunderClan camp.

"Come on," Fireheart murmured to the rest of the patrol. "Let's get back home."

* * *

The mood in the camp was extremely somber that night.

Willowpelt and Whitestorm spent the entire night beside their son's body, their noses pressed into his cold fur. Yellowfang had cleaned his pelt and decorated his body with lavender and rosemary, but there was nothing that could hide the scent of death that emitted from Rainkit's unmoving form. Sorrelkit and Sootkit, the dead kit's two siblings, watched fearfully from a short distance away. They didn't quite understand what was going on, but they knew something had happened to their brother that was distressing their parents.

"What did you find?" Bluestar asked in a low voice. She had spent part of the evening with her nephew and his mate but had left after a while to take care of the rest of her Clanmates.

Quickly, Fireheart explained what had happened earlier that day, including their theory about Darkstripe luring Rainkit onto the Thunderpath. When he was finished, his mother shook her head sadly and let out a sigh.

"Darkstripe has always been a bully, even when he was still in the nursery, but I didn't think he would stoop so low as to kill a kit," she murmured. "I suppose living in exile with Tigerstar for so long must have made him bolder, or at least a little less concerned with the warrior code–not that he cared much about that to begin with."

"What should we do now?" Fireheart asked.

"Right now, nothing," Bluestar replied. "The Clan needs to mourn for Rainkit first, and besides, we don't have the strength to lead an attack on ShadowClan. I don't want there to be any more casualties, especially with Tigerstar apparently trying to form an alliance with RiverClan. The next Gathering isn't too far from now; we'll confront them about Rainkit's murder then."

Fireheart nodded slowly, then asked, "Do you think Tigerstar knows about what Darkstripe did to Rainkit?"

"I don't know, Fireheart," his mother admitted. "It wouldn't surprise me if he did, but then again, we haven't scented Tigerstar on our territory. We'll find out at the next Gathering, I suppose."

Fireheart gave a low murmur of agreement and turned to walk off in the direction of the camp entrance. "I'm going to check the border again," he meowed to Bluestar. "Now would be the perfect opportunity for Tigerstar to lead an attack, and I wouldn't be surprised if Darkstripe told him to do exactly that."

Bluestar nodded and meowed, "Take a few other warriors with you just in case."

Fireheart nodded and beckoned with his tail for Ravenflight, Dustpelt, and Fernpaw to follow him. As the four warriors walked towards the gorse tunnel, they were stopped as Willowpelt called out to them. Fireheart turned around to face the pale gray queen, who had left her son's body to speak to him.

"If you find Darkstripe on our territory," she meowed, her voice dark with rage, hatred, and grief. "Show _no _mercy."

Fireheart looked deep into Willowpelt's blue gaze. "Don't worry," he meowed, his voice full of conviction. "We won't."

* * *

**So I'm realizing there was a bit of confusion with the last chapter. The Rainkit that was killed was Willowpelt's son (Rainwhisker in canon), not Fireheart's daughter. **

_**No,**_** I didn't just kill him off because there were two Rainkits, and no, that wasn't a mistake either. There were always meant to be two cats named Rainkit simply because I like the prefix. The reason Willowpelt's Rainkit was killed off was that he lost a coin flip. It was always my intention to have Darkstripe kill one of Willowpelt's kits to help further along his fall from grace (not that he had much to begin with, but that's another story), but I didn't want it to be Sorrelkit since I have plans for her in the future. In the end, it came down to Sootkit and Rainkit since I didn't have any specific future plans for them, but I couldn't decide which of them to kill off, so I decided to flip a coin. And, well, Rainkit, unfortunately, came up on the short end of the stick. **

**If Rainkit had won the coin toss, there were going to be a lot of jokes about having two kits, and later two apprentices, with the same name. Bluestar was even going to (jokingly) threaten to give them the same suffix for their warrior names just to keep up the confusion. Oh well...there goes all of that. :(**

**Thanks for reading, **

**TheShadowedWarrior**


	10. Hunting

Fireheart led Ravenflight and Snowpaw through the forest towards Sunningrocks, keeping his senses alert for any sign of prey. Although the sun was shining down on the forest, the mood of the patrol didn't match the beautiful weather at all. Fireheart didn't speak at all as they traversed through the territory, and Ravenflight's expression was grim. Even the normally cheerful Snowpaw was unusually solemn, obviously having realized that something was bothering the older warriors.

Four days had passed since Rainkit's murder. Bluestar had ordered that he send one extra border patrol along the ShadowClan border every day in the hopes of catching Darkstripe in the act. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen any sign of him on their territory since that fateful day. Fireheart suspected that Darkstripe was trying to lie low until ThunderClan finally decided to let their guard down.

A short while later, they came across a mouse burrowing through some leaves. It was a bit on the scrawny side, but it was still food, so it would have to do for now. Silently, Fireheart tapped Snowpaw with his tail and gestured towards the small creature. The small white apprentice looked up at him, and he flexed the claws on his right forepaw.

_Catch it. _

Snowpaw nodded and dropped into the hunting crouch. He surveyed the terrain in front of him as he had been instructed to do and checked to see the location of every twig, leaf, and any other pieces of debris that might give him away. Then, slowly but surely, he began to creep towards the mouse, keeping his pawsteps light as he advanced on his unsuspecting prey. Once he was about a tail-length away, he pounced, landing on the mouse with his claws outstretched. Before the small creature could make a sound, he nipped the back of its neck, killing it instantly. Triumphant, he sat up and turned around, his blue eyes gleaming with happiness.

"Well done, Snowpaw," Fireheart meowed, gently touching his nose to the younger tom's ear.

Snowpaw purred happily and touched his head briefly to Fireheart's chest. _Thank you. _

They continued on their way to Sunningrocks, pausing every so often when they spotted a potential catch. Snowpaw managed to catch another mouse, a squirrel, and even a rabbit. Fireheart felt a glimmer of pride as he saw the proud tilt to the white-furred tom's head. If nothing else, it was nice to remember that they still had a few things to be happy about in ThunderClan.

"He's improved a lot," Ravenflight remarked as Snowpaw buried his rabbit under a pile of leaves. "His speed is still a little off at times, but his technique is good. Have you started battle training yet?"

"A few moves, yes," Fireheart answered. "He knows the front paw swipe and the front paw blow, and we're working on the back kick now. We're still trying to figure out how to explain the best situations in which to use certain moves, but I have a feeling that's going to come with experience."

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're a good mentor, Fireheart," the thin black tom meowed.

"Thanks, Ravenflight," Fireheart purred gratefully.

Ravenflight nodded, then meowed, "Speaking of mentors, isn't it about time that your kits were apprenticed? They must be about six moons by now."

"They're right around there," the flame-pelted tom answered. "I think I'm going to wait until after the next Gathering to speak to Bluestar about it. We've already got enough on our minds, and trying to find four new mentors at once is a bit stressful."

"That's true," Ravenflight agreed, nodding.

"Then again, Spotkit did say that he wants to train as a medicine cat, so I guess that would be one mentor taken care of," Fireheart remarked, half to himself.

"Probably a good idea too," his friend noted. "Yellowfang isn't getting any younger, and with all the danger in the forest, something might happen to her when she's out collecting herbs. We can't afford to lose her before she can train an apprentice to take her place."

"True, true," Fireheart meowed.

"Now that I think about it, it's probably almost time for Bramblekit and Tawnykit to become apprentices as well," Ravenflight meowed, looking thoughtful. "So that means we'll have...let's see...nine apprentices in training and only two kits in the nursery. And Sootkit and Sorrelkit will only be spending a few more moons in the nursery before they join the apprentices' den as well."

Fireheart nodded silently, waiting for his friend to finish his thought.

"It concerns me, that's all," the black-furred warrior meowed finally. "With everything that's going on in the forest, we'll want to keep up with training, but what are we going to do if, in a few moons, we don't have any kits in the nursery and no apprentices either? Speckletail is too old to have more kits, Brindleface's mate is dead, Willowpelt will probably want to spend a few seasons as a warrior before she decides to have another litter–if she does, that is–and I imagine that the same would be true for Sandstorm. And Goldenflower, well, I can't really see her taking another mate or having another litter after everything that happened with Tigerstar. Mousefur has made it clear that she isn't interested in ever having kits, and I don't know about Brightheart and Cinderheart, but they seem to like the life of a warrior and I can't imagine them wanting to settle down anytime soon."

"Maybe things will change in a few seasons," Fireheart suggested.

"Maybe," Ravenflight agreed. "All the same though, I think it's something worth keeping in mind."

"No, I agree with you," Fireheart replied. "I might speak to Bluestar and see what she thinks. She might want to delay a few apprentice ceremonies until we have more warriors, or we might have to think about taking in outside help..."

"Do you think the Clan would agree to that?" the black tom asked.

"They did with me," Fireheart reminded him.

"That's different, though," Ravenflight argued back. "You're Bluestar's son, so technically you're still a Clanborn warrior. I don't think the Clan would be as happy about taking in a rogue or another kittypet."

"But they didn't know that I was her son until a few moons ago," Fireheart pointed out calmly. "Up until then, they thought I was born in Twolegplace."

Ravenflight pondered his point for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose you're right."

The three cats continued on their way in silence for a while. Snowpaw caught two more mice, leaving them under mounds of dirt so he could collect them later. As they were nearing Sunningrocks, Ravenflight suddenly spoke up again.

"So, what's it like having kits?" he asked.

Fireheart paused for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"I've always wondered," Ravenflight admitted. "Everyone talks so much about how lucky it is when two cats are expecting kits together, and I wanted to know if it was really that great."

"It is, actually," Fireheart replied genuinely, feeling a warm sensation in his chest as he recalled the joy in Sandstorm's eyes when she told him that she was expecting kits, and the pure happiness he had felt when he saw his four newborn children for the first time. "And probably better than they make it out to be. Having kits with Sandstorm was the best thing that ever happened to me. She's...amazing, just in every way possible, and even in times like this, Squirrelkit, Redkit, Rainkit, and Spotkit have a way of making it feel as though nothing could ever go wrong."

"Wow," Ravenflight meowed once he'd finished. "That _does _sound amazing."

"What about you?" the flame-colored deputy asked. "Would you ever want a mate and kits someday?"

Ravenflight hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't mind having a mate," he replied after a while. "But I don't know if I could have kits. I mean, it's possible that _something _could work out, but going through all the fine details..."

"Why wouldn't you be able to have kits?" Fireheart asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "I mean, unless you've been to the Cutter–which I'm almost positive you haven't if you were born in ThunderClan–then you should be able to sire kits someday."

"Yeah, I mean, you're right about that," Ravenflight agreed. "But I mean, well, I guess I'm just not into any of the mollies in ThunderClan and I never really have been...if you know what I'm saying?"

"Ah," Fireheart meowed with a nod, finally understanding what his friend was trying to tell him. "But even so, if you have a mate someday and the two of you decide that you want children, maybe you could ask one of the queens for help. I'm sure they would understand. I imagine there must at least have been a few other instances where two toms were together and asked a queen to act as a surrogate for them."

"It's an idea," Ravenflight answered, nodding.

"Of course, if that doesn't work out, I could always just go back to Twolegplace and ask some of my old kittypet friends if they'll let you adopt one of their kits," Fireheart added, half-joking.

Ravenflight laughed. "Be sure to put in a good word for me if you do."

Soon, the sun was beginning to set, so they decided to head home for the day. Fireheart and Ravenflight helped carry Snowpaw's prey back to the camp, watching as the young apprentice skipped ahead, his head and tail held high. They were all worn out, but their spirits had lifted considerably since they had left on their hunting mission earlier that afternoon. All in all, it had been a fairly good day.

* * *

**Yes, Ravenflight is gay as he was in canon. I don't know if he'll have a mate someday–pretty much everyone within his age range is either related to him or already has a mate–but it's something I'm considering. If he does have a mate, they'll definitely have kits of their own (adopted or surrogate, not sure which yet). He's also not the only gay character in my story, but I won't be providing any spoilers as to who the other one(s) is/are. **

**Fireheart is super chill about it, as is pretty much everyone else in ThunderClan. Homosexuality in the Warriors universe is different than in our world because there isn't a massive religion vs. LGBTQ+ debate that we have in the real world. They follow an organized religion, yes, but that religion doesn't have any rules about whether it's a "sin" to be with someone of the same gender. In fact, the only thing they really try to avoid is mating with a relative, but seeing as that's virtually impossible when you aren't allowed to take a mate outside of your own Clan, they've accepted that it's going to happen every so often. The general consensus is that second cousins or further down the line are what's acceptable if you don't have the option of taking a mate that isn't part of your bloodline. **

**The next chapter will be the Gathering...and the big confrontation, so get ready. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	11. Exposure

The Gathering patrol was silent as Bluestar led them towards Fourtrees. Fireheart padded beside her; his normally bright green eyes were dark and his expression was grim. On her other side, Bluestar could see Willowpelt lashing her tail and flexing her claws. The pale gray queen had insisted on coming to the Gathering, wanting the chance to see Darkstripe exposed as a murderer to the entire forest once and for all.

Bluestar knew that they would be inviting trouble from ShadowClan by bringing attention to their deputy's crimes, so she had elected to bring only her strongest warriors to this particular Gathering. With two traitors holding the most powerful positions in the Clan, she didn't think it would take much for ShadowClan to start a fight with ThunderClan–even if there was a full moon truce. That would probably only be _more _reason for them to do so. No one would be expecting an attack on the night of a Gathering.

She paused at the top of the slope, pausing for a moment to taste the air. RiverClan and WindClan had already arrived, but ShadowClan was nowhere to be seen. Bluestar almost snorted aloud; it was just like them to be late. Silently, she gave the signal for her warriors to descend into the clearing and led the way down into the throng of cats.

Fireheart broke away and went to go speak to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. Bluestar felt the familiar pang of longing as she watched her three kits conversing with one another. She wondered if there would ever be an opportunity for her to tell Mistyfoot and Stonefur the truth about who she was. Almost immediately, however, she brushed away her thoughts. The last thing she needed was for someone to catch her staring at two RiverClan warriors. Her two oldest kits looked eerily similar to her, and Bluestar knew it probably wouldn't take much for another cat to put everything together if she wasn't careful.

Letting out a sigh, Bluestar turned away and went to join the other Clan leaders beneath the Great Rock. Tallstar was waiting there, but she was surprised to see Leopardfur instead of Crookedstar.

"Good evening, Bluestar," Tallstar greeted as she approached them.

"Tallstar." Bluestar nodded. She turned to Leopardfur, who was sitting next to the WindClan leader. "And good evening to you too, Leopardfur."

"Greetings," Leopardfur meowed politely.

"I don't mean to pry, but where is Crookedstar this evening? Is he alright?" Bluestar asked.

"Crookedstar passed away a few days ago from greencough," the spotted molly meowed gravely. "I've taken his place as RiverClan's leader, and I received my nine lives from StarClan yesterday."

"Then, in that case, may StarClan grant RiverClan many seasons of peace and prosperity under your guidance," Bluestar meowed graciously, dipping her head to the new RiverClan leader.

She wasn't entirely surprised to learn that Crookedstar had passed away. The old tom had been the oldest among the leaders and was probably one of the oldest cats in the entire forest by the time of his death. However, she couldn't deny that she would miss him. They had been good friends as apprentices, and although they had grown apart as they grew older, the memories of joking with each other during Gatherings were some of the only happy ones she had of her younger days.

Finally, once the moon was almost at its peak, the ShadowClan representatives made their appearance. Bluestar suppressed a growl as she saw Darkstripe padding alongside Tigerstar, his head held high. It was clear that he felt no regret over murdering Rainkit–not that she'd expected him to anyway.

_Let's see what he thinks when everyone else learns what he's done, _the blue-gray molly thought, flexing her claws.

"Bluestar?" Tallstar meowed tentatively, looking a bit worried. "Are you alright?"

"I–oh, yes, I'm fine," she replied quickly, snapping out of it. "Leopardstar, you may speak first since it's your first Gathering as Clan leader, but if it's not too much trouble, I would like to request to speak after you."

"Of course," Leopardstar agreed, her expression bewildered.

As the ShadowClan warriors began to mingle among the other Clans, Bluestar and the other Clan leaders leaped on top of the Great Rock. Tallstar gave the yowl to begin the meeting, and the throng of warriors fell silent as everyone turned their attention to the four leaders. Bluestar could see Fireheart sitting beside Whitestorm and Willowpelt, just a few tail-lengths away from where Mistyfoot and Stonefur sat.

"Cats of all Clans, welcome," Tallstar meowed, his voice ringing out through the forest. "Tonight, we welcome a new leader. Crookedstar has passed away, and Leopardstar has taken his place as the leader of RiverClan. On behalf of WindClan, I would like to extend my congratulations and well wishes for you and your Clan."

"Thank you, Tallstar," Leopardstar meowed, dipping her head to the black and white tom. "Crookedstar was a wise and noble leader, and he will be greatly missed. But I will do my best to be the leader he expected me to be when he chose me to be his deputy. I have appointed Stonefur as my deputy, and I trust him to help guide RiverClan alongside me."

Bluestar felt a surge of pride course through her body. Her son was the deputy of RiverClan! Two of her kits had ascended to one of the most powerful, highly respected positions in the Clans. Tearing her gaze away from her older son, she turned her attention back to Leopardstar.

"Congratulations once more from ThunderClan," she meowed to her new equal. "And a fine choice of a deputy as well."

Leopardstar dipped her head in thanks. Bluestar noticed that Tigerstar made no move to welcome the new leader of RiverClan, but she guessed that Leopardstar would rather skip over _that _greeting. She couldn't exactly blame her either.

Tigerstar moved to speak next, but Bluestar cut him off. "_I _will be speaking next," she hissed at the ShadowClan leader.

"Cats of WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan," she began, her voice filled with cold fury. "I bring news of a murder. One of our kits, Rainkit, was killed by Darkstripe earlier this moon."

Yowls of shock and fury erupted from the clearing. Out of the corner of her eye, Bluestar saw Tigerstar go rigid, his dark brown tabby fur fluffed out in shock. She almost snorted aloud; did he honestly think she couldn't see through his ruse? Then her attention was dragged away as Darkstripe stood up from his spot near the base of the Great Rock, his fur bristling with anger.

"Prove it!" he snarled, lashing his tail. "Prove that I've touched a single hair on any of your kits' fur!"

"We have proof." It was Willowpelt who spoke this time, her blue eyes furious slits, and Darkstripe seemed to shrink away from his mother. "When we found Rainkit, your scent was on his body. I suppose you must have thought that we wouldn't notice over the stench of the Thunderpath."

"And we've picked up your scent on our territory several other times as well," Fireheart added. "So it's not hard to guess what happened. You were on our land, stealing prey as you've been doing, and you were caught by Rainkit. Since you knew that he would probably tell everyone what he saw as soon as he got back home–as kits tend to do–you decided that the best way to avoid that was to silence him once and for all. You threw Rainkit into the path of an oncoming monster, hoping that his death would look like an accident or the stench from the monster's paws would mask your scent. However, that didn't happen, so you've been caught red-handed."

Darkstripe shook his head, although the anger in his eyes from before was gone. "You can't be serious," he blustered. "I might hate ThunderClan, but even I wouldn't kill an innocent kit. I'm not Brokenstar, for StarClan's sake. If I wanted to hurt ThunderClan, why wouldn't I go for you or Bluestar instead?"

"I'll tell you why," Bluestar meowed from her position on the Great Rock. Darkstripe turned his head towards her. "Because you never confronted anyone unless you were certain that you could win in a fight against them. That's how it always was, wasn't it? You hid behind Tigerclaw–Tigerstar–for protection while you bullied the apprentices and younger warriors. You've always been weak and cowardly, and now, here's the proof for the entire forest to see."

"I–I didn't–" Darkstripe stammered, swinging his head around from side to side. His eyes landed on Longtail, who was sitting on the opposite end of the clearing. "Longtail, back me up here!"

But Longtail merely looked at his former friend in disgust and turned away. Darkstripe stared at him for a few heartbeats, then shook his head and turned his gaze towards Tigerstar up on the Great Rock.

"Tigerstar." Bluestar was both disgusted and amused to hear the pleading note in the ShadowClan deputy's tone. Of _course_, he would turn to his great protector now. "Tigerstar, back me up here."

But Tigerstar didn't jump to Darkstripe's defense as he would have done only a few moons ago. Instead, he looked down at his deputy, a cold, utterly impassive expression on his face. Confused, Bluestar glanced between the two warriors uncertainly. What was going on here?

"In all my life, I never thought I would see the day when one of my own warriors would harm a helpless kit," the ShadowClan leader meowed icily. He dipped his head to Bluestar, who could only stare back, stunned. "You have my word, Bluestar, that Darkstripe will see severe consequences for his actions."

"See that he does," she replied, but it was as though another cat had spoken. The blue-gray queen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was Tigerstar taking her side–ThunderClan's side–over his deputy's in front of all the Clans? What was he playing at?

Down beneath the Great Rock, Darkstripe was staring up at Tigerstar with a look of horror, disbelief, and betrayal written all over his face. He looked so despondent that for a moment, Bluestar almost felt sorry for him. However, she quickly snapped herself out of it, reminding herself that the dark tabby deserved what he was getting.

"You–you can't–" Darkstripe stammered, taking a step back. Several cats hissed at him, and he seemed to shrink under their fury. "You can't be taking _their _side over mine. Do you honestly think I would hurt a kit?"

"Enough!" Willowpelt interrupted. She stormed over to the ShadowClan deputy, her fur bristling with rage and hatred. "You've murdered my son! I don't care if there's a full moon tonight; I'll rip you apart right here and now! Your Clan will be lucky if they even have a body to take home, you miserable excuse for a cat!"

"Willowpelt..." Darkstripe whispered. He turned his attention back to Tigerstar on the Great Rock and gave one final plea for help. "Tigerstar, do something! You can't just let her kill me!"

Once again, Tigerstar failed to even acknowledge his deputy and most loyal follower. Instead, the dark brown tabby turned away entirely so that his back was facing Darkstripe. There could be no clearer message: Darkstripe no longer had Tigerstar as an ally.

With the potential threat from the new ShadowClan leader gone, cats from every single Clan began to converge on Darkstripe. All around the clearing, Bluestar could see bristling tails and moonlight reflecting off of outstretched claws. She glanced up at the sky, expecting to see a cloud being driven towards the moon, but the sky remained as clear and bright as ever. Perhaps it wasn't entirely a surprise, though. If there was one thing that almost everyone in the forest refused to tolerate, it was the murder of innocent kits. She wouldn't be surprised if StarClan had decided to let the breaking of the truce slide for this one night.

Darkstripe took one last look at the group of snarling, furious warriors and fled, his tail between his legs as he raced away from Fourtrees. Willowpelt gave a yowl of rage and chased after him, followed by Longtail, Whitestorm, and Runningwind. They were joined in the pursuit by Mistyfoot, Stonefur, and Silverstream from RiverClan, as well as Onewhisker, Mudclaw, and Tornear from WindClan.

Bluestar jumped down from the Great Rock, followed closely by the other Clan leaders. It didn't matter that only two Clans had shared news tonight. Everyone knew that the Gathering was over. Dipping her head respectfully to Leopardstar and Tallstar, she turned around and walked over to stand beside Fireheart, who was still staring at the spot where the warriors had disappeared from. As she approached, her youngest kit turned to her with an expression of pure bewilderment on his face.

"What," he began slowly, "in StarClan's name just happened?"


	12. Trapped

Darkstripe wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up in this predicament.

One moment, he had been fleeing from Fourtrees as several cats from ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan pursued him. They had caught him near the Twolegplace border as he attempted to jump over the fence and had clawed and bitten him until there wasn't a single place left on his body that wasn't sporting a wound of some sort. He had been left there, alone and bleeding and barely conscious. Darkstripe had closed his eyes, expecting to be greeted by StarClan when he opened them again.

When he opened his eyes again, however, he could tell that he definitely wasn't in StarClan. There were no cats from any of the Clans to be seen–as a matter of fact, there wasn't _anyone _to be seen. Not only that, but he couldn't see any trees, birds, or moonlight anywhere. Instead, he was surrounded by strange white walls with oddly-shaped soft rocks and various other objects he couldn't even begin to think of a name for. He must have been in some sort of den, but he didn't know of anyone who would live in such an extravagant residence.

_Am I dead? _Darkstripe wondered, glancing around himself. It certainly didn't _feel _as though he was dead, but he supposed it would be better to be safe than sorry. The dark gray tabby lifted a paw to examine his throat for any injuries–and promptly received his second shock of the evening.

Wrapped around his neck, pinching at his fur every time he so much as twitched his head, was a _collar_. Even worse, there was a bell attached to it, as Darkstripe discovered when he tried in vain to shake it off. The obnoxious clanging rang in his ears, almost seeming to taunt him. Of course, Darkstripe knew that a collar couldn't speak for real, but being trapped in the Twoleg nest was slowly driving him to the brink of insanity.

Finally, he had realized where he was. A Twoleg must have picked him up when they saw him injured and taken him into their home. They probably did something for his wounds as well, seeing as they didn't hurt anymore.

Darkstripe dug his claws into the hardwood floor, resisting the urge to howl in fury. Why was StarClan turning their backs on him? Wasn't it enough that he had been driven from his Clan? He had thought he was dead, but instead, the reality was far worse. Not only was he now an outcast, but he had been taken in and forced to become a _kittypet_. There was no way he was going to live this humiliation down. Fireheart was going to have the best day of his life when he found out what had happened to his old enemy.

_Relax, _he told himself. _You won't be stuck here forever. Tigerstar will come to rescue you by tomorrow. He has to; you're the deputy of ShadowClan. There's no way he would just replace you, not after everything you did for him. _

Yet, even so, a nagging feeling of doubt lingered at the back of his mind. Tigerstar hadn't exactly jumped to his defense when ThunderClan was accusing him of murdering Rainkit. If anything, his old friend had seemed almost _indifferent _to the fact that an entire Clan was out for his deputy's blood. Was it possible that Tigerstar didn't care about him after all?

_Don't be stupid. You're just overreacting,_ Darkstripe scolded himself. _Obviously, he couldn't defend you because it would mean creating more trouble for ShadowClan, and we can't afford to have that when we're still rebuilding our Clan. Tigerstar was only doing the smart thing and pretending to be against you to throw ThunderClan off guard. Just stop worrying; you'll be out of here by tomorrow morning. _

Letting out a sigh, the dark tabby stood up and padded around the Twoleg nest to see if there was any food for him to eat. He knew that he was stuck there until Tigerstar came to rescue him, and he could live with that. But if he was going to be trapped there, he wasn't about to let himself go hungry.

* * *

"Clanmates, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow morning. But first, there's an important task that needs to be completed," Tigerstar meowed, looking down at the swarm of ShadowClan warriors below him. "As all of you are aware, we lost our deputy, Darkstripe, tonight. Therefore, as per tradition, we must appoint a new one."

Whispers and glances of confusion erupted from the surrounding cats. After a few heartbeats, Russetfur stepped forward hesitantly. She looked nervous, as though she were uncertain whether it was wise for her to speak during a Clan meeting.

"We understand what you're saying, Tigerstar," the russet-colored molly meowed respectfully. "But we don't know that Darkstripe is dead. Shouldn't we at least confirm that he's been killed before we appoint a new deputy?"

_If I wanted that pathetic fool following me around, I'd have gone to look for him myself, _Tigerstar thought scornfully. Out loud, he replied, "Your concern is a fair one, Russetfur. But you saw the fury of ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan at the Gathering. They will not have allowed him to escape alive, mark my words."

Russetfur dipped her head, and the dark brown tabby continued, "Darkstripe was a fine deputy, and he would have made an excellent leader. But tonight and forever, he will be watching over our Clan from Silverpelt."

He allowed a few heartbeats of silence following his speech as each of his Clanmates bowed their heads in memory of their lost deputy. Towards the back of the group, Tigerstar could see the apprentices huddled together. Their eyes were wide with shock and fear, clearly stunned by the news of Darkstripe's apparent murder. A part of him almost felt bad for them, but he quickly pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to show weakness.

"I say these words before the body of Darkstripe that his spirit may hear and approve my choice," he meowed once everyone had finished mourning. "Russetfur will be the new deputy of ShadowClan."

Russetfur's head snapped up in shock as her Clanmates began chanting her name. She stared up at Tigerstar, who simply looked back at her evenly. The only reason he had picked her was that she was one of the least likely cats to try to overthrow him, but she didn't need to know that. Let her think she had his full support if she wanted. At any rate, Russetfur was a clear upgrade over Darkstripe, and that could only be considered a good thing for everyone.

"Although we do not have a body to bury, our Clan will hold a vigil for Darkstripe tonight," Tigerstar meowed as soon as the cheers for Russetfur had died down. "That is all. Meeting dismissed."

He leaped down from his perch and padded over to the middle of the camp to begin the vigil. Of course, he held no feelings of loss over Darkstripe, but he couldn't afford to let his Clanmates think something was wrong. It was vital that he had their full support if he had any hope of his future plans succeeding. Briefly, Tigerstar noted that ThunderClan had just given him the perfect excuse to launch an attack on them–but unnecessary, quite unnecessary. Besides, they would be on high alert now that one of his warriors had murdered Willowpelt's son. If he wanted to attack ThunderClan, he would have to wait.

Then again, they _had _helped rid him of the most irksome cat to ever taint the forest with his presence. In a way, he probably owed them his thanks.

Tigerstar stretched out his paws in front of him, stifling a purr of contentment. Darkstripe was gone, ShadowClan was on the road to recovery, and his place as their leader was safer and more secure than ever. At the end of the day, there really wasn't anything to complain about.


	13. A Good Day

"_Mom_, I don't need you to wash me! I'm clean enough!"

"That's what you said right before you ran off and got yourself all dusty again, Squirrelkit. Just sit still; this won't take much longer."

Fireheart watched in amusement as Sandstorm gave Squirrelkit a thorough washing. In just a few moments, Bluestar was going to call a Clan meeting, and their kits would finally become apprentices. Even the normally quiet Rainkit looked ready to burst out of her fur in excitement at the thought of getting to sleep in the apprentices' den for the first time.

Unfortunately, since Squirrelkit seemed extremely intent on fighting off her mother's attempts at bathing her, it looked as though they were going to be late for the meeting.

"There! You're all finished," Sandstorm meowed. Almost at the exact same moment, Bluestar's call summoned them to the base of the Highrock.

"Go on, then," Fireheart meowed encouragingly, ushering his and Sandstorm's children towards the rest of the Clan. "You're almost there."

Once Squirrelkit, Rainkit, Spotkit, and Redkit were settled down near the base of the Highrock, Fireheart and Sandstorm went to sit beside Whitestorm and Willowpelt to watch the ceremony. They were joined a few moments later by Ravenflight and Dustpelt. A few tail-lengths away, Fireheart could see Goldenflower and Speckletail sitting with Snowpaw, and he guessed that they would be translating the meeting for him. He suppressed a purr of amusement when he saw Bramblekit and Tawnykit poke their heads out from behind their mother. Technically, they were old enough to catch their own prey, but it was still quite entertaining to see kits at a Clan meeting.

"Cats of ThunderClan, the time has come to name four new apprentices," Bluestar announced from the top of the Highrock. "Fireheart and Sandstorm's kits have reached their sixth moon, and it is time for them to begin their training. Redkit, please step forward."

The small ginger tabby tom walked forward slowly, looking up at Bluestar with wide eyes. His legs were trembling slightly, but he did his best to stand tall. Bluestar looked down at Redkit, her blue eyes softening with amusement.

"Redkit, from this day on until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Redpaw," she meowed, her voice ringing out loud and clear. "Brackenfur, you will mentor Redpaw. You had an excellent mentor in Runningwind, and I trust that you will pass on all you know to this apprentice."

Brackenfur padded forward to touch noses with his new apprentice, looking even more excited than Redpaw. Fireheart purred slightly, remembering the delighted expression on the younger warrior's face when he told them that he would get to mentor one of his kits. The bracken-colored tom had been looking forward to receiving an apprentice for a while now. He helped with Snowpaw's training on occasion, but he admitted to Fireheart that it wasn't quite the same as having an apprentice of his own to train.

"Squirrelkit," Bluestar meowed, turning to the fluffy ginger molly next. "From this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Squirrelpaw. Your new mentor will be Brightheart. Brightheart, you were trained by Ravenflight, and he did a wonderful job with you. I trust that you will pass on all the skills he taught you onto Squirrelpaw."

"Of course," Brightheart replied, dipping her head to Fireheart's mother. She walked over to touch noses with Squirrelpaw, who practically bounced over to meet her new mentor. The two walked over to sit beside Redpaw and Brackenfur, and Squirrelpaw waved her tail happily at Fireheart.

"Now, Rainkit," Bluestar meowed, looking down at the blue-gray kit. "From this day on, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Rainpaw. Longtail, you will be her mentor. You have proven your loyalty to ThunderClan time and time again, and I trust you will pass on all the skills you possess onto this apprentice."

Longtail dipped his head and walked over to Rainpaw to touch noses with her. As he watched his daughter bounding over to join her siblings, Fireheart was once again struck by how uncannily she resembled Bluestar. They even had the same icy blue eyes, although Rainkit's were much softer than her grandmother's.

Several moons ago, Fireheart wouldn't have dreamed of asking Longtail to mentor one of his kits. But things had changed between the two of them, and while the pale tabby wasn't exactly a friend, he was far from an enemy. More importantly, there was already a bond between Longtail and Rainpaw that had started developing when he was serving his punishment in the nursery.

Now, it was Spotkit's turn. The speckled gray kit was looking up at Bluestar, his whiskers trembling with excitement. Yellowfang was standing there as well, and a murmur of excitement rose up from the surrounding cats. It wasn't often that a cat was chosen to be a medicine cat, and the former ShadowClan queen had gone a long time without an apprentice.

"We have a special mentor for our final kit," Bluestar announced, her eyes soft as she gazed down at Spotkit. "Yellowfang has informed me that she wishes to take on Spotkit as her apprentice. Therefore, from this moment on, he will be known as Spotpaw. At the next half-moon meeting, you will travel to the Moonstone with Yellowfang in order to receive StarClan's blessing. The good wishes of your Clanmates go with you."

As Yellowfang and Spotpaw touched noses, a chorus of cheers rose for the new apprentices. Fireheart joined in, his heart ready to burst with pride as he looked at his kits. They were going to make fine warriors, he knew, and Spotpaw was going to become a wonderful medicine cat. He got to his paws and walked over to his kits to congratulate them, all of whom raced over to him as soon as they saw him coming. Sandstorm padded after him, her flank brushing against his as she came to stand by his side.

"Dad, Mom, did you see? We're apprentices now!" Squirrelpaw meowed happily. "I'm going to be the best apprentice ever so I can be the Clan's leader one day!"

"No, you're not! I am!" Redpaw yowled.

"I just want to be a good warrior," Rainpaw meowed meekly.

"Well, _I'm _going to be the best medicine cat ever," Spotpaw meowed confidently.

"I'm sure you'll all do just fine," Sandstorm purred, giving each of their kits a quick lick on the forehead.

"Just make sure to listen to your mentors at all times," Fireheart added.

"Are you really going to be a warrior now?" Tawnykit asked, looking up at Rainpaw with wide eyes. Fireheart jumped slightly; he hadn't even noticed her and her brother coming.

"I am," Rainpaw purred, touching her nose to the younger molly's cheek. "But don't worry, you'll be with me again soon enough. And then we can play games together just like we used to."

"When will we get to be apprentices, Fireheart?" Bramblekit asked, turning to the ThunderClan deputy.

"Soon, Bramblekit," Fireheart promised. "We have a lot of things going on, but you and Tawnykit will both be ready in about a moon."

They continued conversing for a few moments until Fernpaw and Ashpaw came bounding over, eager to show their new denmates to their nests. Satisfied that his children were in safe paws, Fireheart turned to Sandstorm.

"So, what do you say we get some rest?" he suggested. "Brindleface and I prepared a nest for you in the warriors' den already."

"Well, I can't say no to that," Sandstorm purred, brushing her nose against his cheek.

Together, the two warriors walked across the camp to their den, pushing their way through the entrance. It was still relatively light out, so Fireheart knew he would have time for a short nap before he had to leave on the dusk patrol. As he closed his eyes, the last sensation he had before he dozed off was of Sandstorm's fur pressed against his, her flank rising and falling steadily as she slept on beside him.


	14. Battle for Sunningrocks

A few days after Fireheart and Sandstorm's kits had been apprenticed, Bluestar was leading the dawn patrol towards Sunningrocks. Fireheart walked beside her, lifting his head occasionally to sniff the air. Brightheart and Squirrelpaw followed a few tail-lengths back along with Snowpaw and Ravenflight, who had taken on training duties for the deaf apprentice today. Every so often, Brightheart would stop and quiz Squirrelpaw on a landmark or give her a brief lesson on how to scent for enemy warriors. The dark ginger molly was a fast learner, although Bluestar noticed that she seemed more interested in talking with Snowpaw.

As they approached Sunningrocks, the silhouettes of several cats appeared at the top of the rock formation. Bluestar narrowed her eyes; she recognized the cat at the head, Leopardstar. Fireheart came to a halt as well, his fur bristling at the sight of the RiverClan patrol.

"What's going on?" Squirrelpaw asked, looking around in excitement. "Who are those cats up there? They smell like fish!"

"Squirrelpaw, hush!" Brightheart chided her apprentice. More softly, she added, "Those are RiverClan warriors, and that's RiverClan scent you're smelling. Be careful; there's always bound to be trouble when you see them at Sunningrocks."

Bluestar led her patrol to the top of Sunningrocks, standing across from Leopardstar. She knew why they were here, and while she was grateful for their aid during the fire, she wasn't about to give up ThunderClan's territory. Her heart twisted, however, when she saw Mistyfoot and Stonefur standing behind their leader. If it came down to a battle–which she could almost guarantee it would–how could she possibly fight her kits?

"Greetings, Bluestar," Leopardstar meowed, dipping her head to the ThunderClan leader. There was a strange glint in her eyes. "I have been waiting since moonset to see ThunderClan warriors."

"What are you doing here?" Bluestar demanded. "Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan."

Behind her, she heard Brightheart whisper to Squirrelpaw, "Go back and fetch reinforcements."

Squirrelpaw stared at her mentor. "But I want to see what happens! I want to fight!"

"_Go_, Squirrelpaw!" Brightheart hissed. "There will be other battles. But not today. Go, now!"

The ginger molly hesitated for a moment, then turned around and raced back in the direction of the camp. Leopardstar stared after her with narrowed eyes, clearly already having guessed as to why she had left. Whatever hope there had been of a peaceful resolution was gone now, not that there had been much, to begin with.

"I know what you want, Leopardstar," Bluestar told the spotted molly quietly. "And the answer is no. If you want to try to take Sunningrocks, then you're going to have to fight us for it. But rest assured that my warriors will take whatever means necessary to defend our territory."

The RiverClan leader glared at her. "So be it," she hissed, her claws sliding out. "RiverClan, attack!"

With an unholy screech, Leopardstar hurled herself down the rockface at Bluestar, who slipped to the side and slashed the RiverClan molly with her claws. She turned around sharply, but Bluestar was ready. Before Leopardstar could steady herself enough to attack, she leaped, pinning the RiverClan leader down and slashing her claws across her face. Spitting in fury, the spotted warrior struggled free and raced over to help Shadepelt, who had already been beaten by Brightheart.

Bluestar glanced around at the surrounding warriors, checking to see where each of her Clanmates were. Several tail-lengths away, Ravenflight and Snowpaw were battling side by side against Loudbelly and a RiverClan apprentice whose name Bluestar couldn't remember. The white-furred apprentice was holding his own despite his disadvantage and was able to deliver a vicious bite to the RiverClan cat's ear that sent her fleeing back across the river. Loudbelly let out a yowl of fury and launched himself at Snowpaw, but Ravenflight intercepted his attack and sent him crashing onto his side. As he struggled back to his paws, Ravenflight slashed him across the muzzle, and he took off after his Clanmate.

_That's a few of them down, _Bluestar noted. _But there are still so many of them. Great StarClan, did Leopardstar bring her entire Clan? _

Now, there was only one warrior left to account for. Scanning the battlefield, Bluestar spotted Fireheart locked in a fierce tussle with Stonefur a few fox-lengths away. Her heart twisted with pain. Of course, she knew it was inevitable that one of her warriors would have to fight her older children, but why did it have to be Fireheart?

But Fireheart showed no regret as he clawed repeatedly at Stonefur's ears, dodging blows from his older half-brother as he did so. His green eyes burned with battle rage and he fought with an aggression that would have made Tigerstar proud. Soon, Stonefur was overwhelmed and fled the battle. Although she was worried about him, Bluestar couldn't suppress a surge of pride for Fireheart. Her youngest son had turned into one of the best warriors she could have asked for.

A yowl sounded from behind Bluestar, and the blue-gray molly whirled around, instinctively sliding out her claws. When she saw who it was, however, she relaxed. Thornclaw, Brindleface, Ashpaw, Fernpaw, Mousefur, and Dustpelt were descending into the thick of the battle. Squirrelpaw's reinforcements had finally come.

Dustpelt hurled himself at Graystripe, biting down hard on the gray tabby's shoulder. Bluestar felt a twinge of surprise; she hadn't even noticed her son's former friend. Graystripe struggled against Dustpelt but was unable to form a proper counterattack, and he was soon sent fleeing back to his own territory.

With the tide of battle turning, Bluestar scanned the battlefield for Leopardstar. No matter what happened, the battle would not cease until the RiverClan leader had been beaten for good. There she was, locked in battle with Fireheart. As she watched, her youngest kit narrowly escaped a belly rake from Leopardstar, springing to his paws and delivering a blow to the side of her head. Leopardstar staggered but recovered almost immediately, striking Fireheart with a fierce blow to his ears. The ThunderClan deputy faltered momentarily, and that was all it took for her to pin him down and sink her teeth into his throat.

Fury welled up inside of Bluestar. StarClan would freeze over before she let Leopardstar hurt her son. Letting out a screech of rage, she launched herself at her fellow leader, knocking her away from Fireheart. She could faintly sense Fireheart beside her, having recovered his senses, but most of her vision was a red haze. Her only concern now was protecting her kit. As Bluestar bit down hard on Leopardstar's shoulder, Fireheart delivered a belly rake, splattering all three of them with blood.

Leopardstar staggered back, glaring at both of them. But even she knew when she was beaten. Turning around, she raced back towards her own territory, yowling for her Clanmates to retreat. Bluestar and Fireheart watched as the remaining RiverClan warriors took off after their leader, diving into the river and swimming across to the other side.

"Thank StarClan we managed to fight off RiverClan," Dustpelt meowed, licking a wound on his chest.

Bluestar nodded, then stiffened when she saw the blood soaking Fireheart's fur. "Are you alright?" she asked anxiously.

Fireheart glanced down at his pelt. "It's not my blood." He paused for a moment, then added, "Most of it isn't my blood."

Bluestar let out a sigh of relief and gently licked her kit between his ears. Fireheart touched his nose to hers in response before going over to speak to Dustpelt.

"Thanks for coming so quickly," he meowed gratefully.

"Lucky Squirrelpaw's fast," the brown tabby meowed. "Otherwise, we might not have made it in time."

"Where is Squirrelpaw?" Fireheart asked, looking worried. "Is she back at the camp?"

Dustpelt nodded. "She wanted to come with us, but Brindleface told her to stay back. Sandstorm said she would take her out hunting instead."

Fireheart relaxed visibly. "Thank you," he meowed, dipping his head to his friend.

Bluestar led her exhausted but triumphant warriors back in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. When they entered the gorse tunnel, they were greeted by Squirrelpaw, Rainpaw, Spotpaw, and Redpaw, who bounded up to their father. She purred quietly as she watched Fireheart struggling to free himself from his kits' grasp.

"Are you okay? Did you win?" Squirrelpaw asked eagerly.

"Yes, we won," Fireheart meowed, gently licking his daughter's ears. Then he frowned. "I thought Sandstorm was going to take you hunting."

"She did. We just got back," the fluffy ginger apprentice explained. "Willowpelt asked her to help watch the kits. I think she's still in the nursery."

Fireheart nodded and started to head off to the nursery, but Bluestar stopped him. "Oh, no you don't," she meowed, looking at her son sternly. "You're going straight to the medicine den."

"_Mother_," Fireheart groaned. "I told you before, I'm _fine_. There are other cats who are hurt worse than I am; let them see Yellowfang first."

"And what do you think Sandstorm will do if she sees you covered in blood?" she asked. "If you won't listen to me, I can guarantee that she'll make you listen to her."

Fireheart's eyes widened something that did not go unnoticed by any of his kits. They exchanged a glance, smirking.

"Right, then," he meowed, backing towards the medicine den. "I'm just going to go see Yellowfang, then. I'll see Sandstorm later."

"Yeah, Dad, don't make Mom angry," Redpaw meowed jokingly. Fireheart rolled his eyes and gently cuffed his son over his ears playfully before turning and walking off towards the medicine den.

Bluestar followed him, hurrying up to walk alongside her kit. Aside from a bite on her shoulder–she assumed that came from Leopardstar, although she hadn't noticed anything at the time–she was mostly fine, but she wanted to make sure Fireheart really was alright. Fireheart purred softly as she drew up next to him, and she touched her nose to his ear.

When they reached the medicine den, Yellowfang was already tending to Snowpaw's injuries. His pelt was marred with fresh wounds and blood dripped from a tear in his ear. Despite the pain, however, his eyes were shining. Bluestar couldn't blame him. Finally, after moons of training, he had fought in his first battle and won.

Taking a seat just inside the medicine den, Bluestar began licking Fireheart's fur, washing the blood off of his pelt. The dried dark red liquid left a salty, almost bitter taste in her mouth, but she couldn't have cared less. She got to take care of her kit.

"I wish it wasn't Stonefur you fought," she found herself murmuring, keeping her voice low enough so that the others didn't overhear.

"I know," Fireheart replied quietly. "I didn't want to fight him either. But he's a RiverClan warrior, even if he is my brother. My loyalty will always be to my Clan first."

"As it should be," Bluestar meowed, giving his fur another lick.

As she continued washing her son's fur, Bluestar couldn't help wondering how Stonefur had felt battling Fireheart. In all likelihood, he had only seen it as another fight against an enemy warrior. Why should he think of it any differently? Neither he nor Mistyfoot knew the truth.

But what if he had known the truth? Would it have hurt him to battle against his little brother? Ever since she had given Mistyfoot and Stonefur over to RiverClan, she had longed to be able to tell them who she was. Even if they didn't want to come back to ThunderClan, at least they would know who their real mother was.

Now, however, Bluestar realized how impossible that would be. If she told them the truth, all it would accomplish was tearing her kits' loyalties between two Clans. And wasn't that the whole reason she'd been planning on lying and telling her Clanmates that Thrushpelt was their father before Thistleclaw ruined everything? Besides, Mistyfoot and Stonefur were warriors now. They didn't need her to be their mother; they had a mother in Graypool, and she had done a wonderful job of raising them.

_Maybe it's for the best that they don't find out, _Bluestar thought to herself. _Or at least not until we've all joined StarClan. _

If nothing else, at least she had the chance to have a bond with one of her kits. In the end, that was more than Bluestar could ask for.


	15. Brightheart's Attack

The following morning, Fireheart was in the middle of sharing a meal with Sandstorm when Squirrelpaw burst into the camp, frantically yowling for help. Quickly, he sprang to his paws and raced over to his daughter. Her fur was fluffed up and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Squirrelpaw, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked urgently, placing his tail on Squirrelpaw's shoulder to try to calm her down.

"Dad, you need to come with me! Brightheart's in trouble!" Squirrelpaw cried.

"What happened?" Swiftrunner asked, racing over to them. He was joined a moment later by Longtail and Rainpaw.

"We went to Snakerocks because Brightheart wanted to take me to the Great Sycamore to work on my climbing," the ginger molly explained. "But when we got there, this–this _massive _dog came out and attacked us! I think there were more too, but I didn't get a good look before Brightheart told me to run back to the camp and get help."

Fireheart nodded and turned to the other warriors, all of whom were bristling with shock and worry. "Longtail, Swiftrunner, come with me," he ordered. "Squirrelpaw, go to the medicine den and ask Yellowfang for some thyme. Rainpaw, stay with your sister. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"I'll come too," Sandstorm meowed, bounding over to them. "If those dogs are still there, you'll need as much help as you can get."

"But Mom, what if you and Dad get hurt?" Rainpaw cried. "Those dogs could kill you!"

"We'll be fine, Rainpaw," Sandstorm meowed soothingly, gently licking the small blue-furred molly's ears. "We're only going to help Brightheart, and we'll be back before you know it. But we need to go now. Brightheart's in trouble, and she needs us."

Rainpaw nodded reluctantly and followed Squirrelpaw to the medicine den. Reassured that his daughters would be alright, Fireheart turned and led the patrol out of the camp. Sandstorm raced beside him, her pale green eyes flickering side to side as she scanned the forest for any sign of danger. Longtail and Swiftrunner followed a few paces behind, sniffing the air to see if the dogs had left Snakerocks.

When they arrived at Snakerocks, Fireheart knew instantly that something was wrong. The area was completely silent; there were no sounds of fighting anywhere. As he glanced around the area, trying to see if he could spot Brightheart, a salty, yet bitter scent wafted towards him. His fur stood on end as he recognized the unmistakable stench of blood.

"Follow me," he ordered to the rest of the patrol. "We're going to track the blood scent. Keep an eye out for any dogs while you're at it."

The rest of the patrol nodded and followed him closer towards the spot where the blood was coming from. As they padded closer to the source, they kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the dogs. But although their scent was still as fresh as ever, they didn't see anything.

_Did they leave already? _Fireheart wondered.

Suddenly, he heard Swiftrunner yowling from several fox-lengths away, "Fireheart! Fireheart, come here!"

The alarm in his voice sent the flame-colored warrior bounding over as quickly as possible. At once, Fireheart stiffened in horror. Swiftrunner was standing a few tail-lengths down the slope, hovering over a bloody mass of fur. It was Brightheart, and from where he stood, it looked as though she was dead.

Feeling sick, he padded closer to the younger warrior's body and sniffed at it, feeling a wave of relief when he saw the faint rise and fall of her flank. She was still alive. Now that he was closer, however, he could see the full extent of the damage the dogs had done to her. Her pelt was covered in numerous wounds, almost all of which would definitely scar her for life. But her face was the worst of all. One of Brightheart's ears had been shredded beyond repair, and there was a red, bloody mass where her left eye used to be.

"Great StarClan," Sandstorm exclaimed, coming to stand beside her mate.

Longtail raced over to them, stiffening in shock when he saw Brightheart. "Is she...?"

"She's alive," Fireheart answered. "But only just, and we won't be able to make it back to the camp in time if we carry her all the way there. Sandstorm, Longtail, help me carry Brightheart's body to the base of Snakerocks. Swiftrunner, run back to the camp and get Yellowfang. She's going to need to come to Brightheart."

Swiftrunner nodded and raced away in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. Once he was gone, Fireheart lifted Brightheart onto his back, settling her head on his shoulder. Sandstorm padded beside him to help support the injured molly, while Longtail took the rear. Careful not to disturb her, they carried Brightheart back down the rocky slope. As soon as they were a safe distance away from Snakerocks, they set her down gently. Her wounds were still bleeding, and her breathing had slowed considerably. If they wanted any chance of saving Brightheart, they would need to try to stop the bleeding until Yellowfang arrived.

"Longtail, go find some cobwebs. We need to get her wounds to stop bleeding," Fireheart ordered. "Sandstorm, see if you can find any marigold. I'll stay here and wait for Yellowfang to get here."

The two warriors nodded and raced off into the forest. Fireheart sat down next to Brightheart, scanning the forest to see if Yellowfang was on her way yet. Swiftrunner was the fastest cat in the Clan; surely he had reached the camp by now. He tried to tell himself this, but he couldn't suppress a pang of frustration. Brightheart was dying, and all he could do was _wait_.

Finally, after what felt like moons of waiting, Sandstorm and Longtail returned, carrying several cobwebs and marigold leaves with them. Silently, Fireheart took the cobwebs from Longtail and began to press them down onto Brightheart's injuries as Sandstorm chewed up the marigold leaves into a poultice. Carefully, she spat the leaves onto the ginger and white molly's pelt.

"I think that's the best we can do for now," Sandstorm meowed quietly. "We just need to wait for Yellowfang to get here."

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Barely a few heartbeats later, Yellowfang came racing towards them, clutching several bundles of herbs in her jaws. Bluestar was with her, as well as Frostfur, Brightheart's mother. The white queen raced over to her daughter, her blue eyes wide with terror.

"Brightheart? Brightheart, darling, it's your mother. Can you hear me?" she asked frantically. She looked around at the others wildly. "What happened? Who did this to her?"

"Frostfur, I need you to stand aside so I can treat her," Yellowfang meowed gently.

"I'm not leaving her!" Frostfur hissed, baring her teeth at the medicine cat. "I'm her mother. You can't make me go anywhere!"

"And I'm her medicine cat. I'm _ordering _you to move," Yellowfang snapped. "Unless you want her to die?"

"How _dare_–?"

"Enough!" Bluestar interrupted. "Frostfur, Yellowfang is right. You need to move so she can have clear access to her patient. The more space she has, the better it will be for Brightheart."

Frostfur still didn't move. "If she dies–"

"She won't," Fireheart spoke up. "Yellowfang will make sure that she doesn't. But you need to move _now_. The longer we stand around arguing, the worse Brightheart is going to get."

The white-furred molly hesitated for another heartbeat, then nodded and moved aside to allow Yellowfang to get closer to Brightheart. As the medicine cat began treating Brightheart's wounds, Frostfur turned to Fireheart.

"What happened?" she repeated, her tail lashing. "How did she get like this?"

"She was attacked by dogs," Fireheart explained. "Brightheart took Squirrelpaw to the Snakerocks so they could practice her climbing at the Great Sycamore, but the dogs attacked while they were there. She sent Squirrelpaw back to get help while she fought the dogs off."

"Why didn't Squirrelpaw stay and help?" Frostfur demanded.

"She doesn't know how to fight yet, you know that. If she had stayed, the dogs would have killed her," Fireheart reminded the older warrior.

Frostfur lashed her tail. "She abandoned Brightheart when she needed help! What sort of Clanmate is she? A real warrior would never leave their Clanmate!"

Fireheart glared at her, baring his teeth. "And what good would it have done if she had stayed? If she hadn't run when Brightheart told her to, they would have both been killed," he snarled. "Would you rather lose two Clanmates in one day?"

"If she had just–"

"Don't you _dare _blame Squirrelpaw for this," Sandstorm growled, her claws sliding out as she glowered at Frostfur. "What happened to Brightheart is nobody's fault. Squirrelpaw did the best she could. She ran home and got help as quickly as possible."

"Easy for you to say!" Frostfur spat. "_Your _daughter is perfectly fine. _My _daughter is the one who got hurt!"

"Yes, being traumatized and in shock is definitely what being 'perfectly fine' means," Fireheart snapped back.

"All of you, calm down," Bluestar ordered, padding over to them. "Frostfur, I understand you're upset, but blaming others isn't going to help anyone. Go hunting and calm yourself down. We'll make sure that Brightheart is okay."

Frostfur opened her mouth to protest, but with one last terrified look at Fireheart, she turned and headed deeper into the forest. The flame-colored warrior exhaled slowly, turning away sharply. He knew he shouldn't be angry with Frostfur–if the situations had been flipped, he would be distressed as well. But after everything that had happened recently with Rainkit's death and Darkstripe's banishment from the forest, his patience had worn thin. With this latest disaster, he was too frustrated and angry to be sympathetic.

"Relax," Bluestar murmured to him, gently licking his ears. "Frostfur's just upset. She doesn't really blame Squirrelpaw, you know that."

"I know," Fireheart sighed. "I'm not actually mad at her. But everything seems to be going wrong lately, and I just...I don't know."

Eventually, Yellowfang finished treating Brightheart's wounds. Fireheart and Bluestar helped her carry the ginger and white molly's still-unconscious form back to the camp. Sandstorm walked beside her mate, her flank pressed against his. Longtail took up the rear once again as the group of warriors made their way back home.

_StarClan, what trouble will you send us next? After the fire, Rainkit's murder, and another attempt from RiverClan to steal our territory, _this _is what we get? We get to see one of our Clanmates mutilated beyond repair? What did we do to deserve this? Why can't you just leave us in peace?_

* * *

**So yes, Brightheart's injury still happens, but not quite in the same way as in canon. And don't worry, she's still going to mentor Squirrelpaw because I'm not an ableist coward like the Erins. Yeah, that's right Erin Hunter, I said it. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	16. Frostfur's Grief

When Fireheart and the rest of the patrol arrived back at the camp, they spotted Frostfur emerging from the medicine den. The white queen paused when she saw Fireheart and Sandstorm, but the two of them refused to acknowledge her, choosing instead to pad over to where Squirrelpaw was sharing a mouse with Rainpaw and Redpaw.

"Hi, Mom, hi Dad," Squirrelpaw meowed. Fireheart was relieved to see that even though her voice lacked its usual excitement, she sounded more cheerful than she had when he had left the camp.

"Hello, Squirrelpaw," he greeted his daughter, gently licking her over her ears. "Are you feeling better?"

"A little," the dark ginger molly answered. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is Brightheart okay?"

"Well..." Fireheart hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure how to explain what had happened to Squirrelpaw's mentor. "She's badly hurt, but Yellowfang and Spotpaw know what they're doing. They'll have her feeling better in no time."

"But it might take a while until she's able to resume mentoring you again," Sandstorm added.

Squirrelpaw nodded as Rainpaw piped up, "I–I think Frostfur's mad at Squirrelpaw. She tried to go over and ask if she saw Brightheart, but Frostfur just snapped at her to get lost."

"She did _what?_" Sandstorm hissed.

Fireheart's stomach began to churn with anger. It was one thing for Frostfur to accuse Squirrelpaw of being responsible for Brightheart's accident behind her back, but it was another thing entirely to behave rudely towards her in person. Evidently, none of what he and Sandstorm had said had registered in the white molly's mind at all. He knew he should have been more sympathetic–after all, Frostfur was clearly grieving and therefore wasn't in a reasonable state of mind. But Squirrelpaw had been hurt as well, perhaps not physically, but definitely mentally. The last thing Fireheart needed was for anyone to make his daughter's emotional trauma worse than it already was.

"Wait here," he meowed to his children. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"I'll come too," Sandstorm growled, her pale green eyes flashing with anger.

The two warriors stalked over to Frostfur, who was sitting by the clump of nettles, picking mindlessly at a thrush. She looked up as they approached, the fur on her shoulders bristling and her expression twisting into a snarl when she saw them.

"What do you want?" Frostfur sneered. "Make this quick, I want to finish my meal in peace."

"I'll get to the point, then," Fireheart shot back coldly. "What's this I hear about you being rude to Squirrelpaw when she tried to ask about Brightheart?"

"I have nothing to explain to you," the white queen snapped, taking a bite out of her thrush. "I'm not in the business of putting up with apprentices whose selfish desires get my daughter hurt."

Fireheart growled, but it was Sandstorm who reacted first. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mate's claws flash and winced slightly, wondering if she was about to slash Frostfur open. Instead of striking the queen, however, her claws hooked on the thrush and she flung it several tail-lengths to the side. Frostfur stared at Sandstorm in shock, her blue eyes wide.

"Listen here and listen well, you miserable old waste of fresh-kill," Sandstorm snarled. "I don't care how upset you are over Brightheart's injury. If you even _think _of blaming Squirrelpaw again, next time _you'll _be the one who gets clawed."

Frostfur shrank back slightly, but she still had some fight left in her. "If Squirrelpaw hadn't insisted on going climbing there, this wouldn't have happened," she meowed stubbornly.

"Really?" Fireheart asked sarcastically. "As I recall, it was Brightheart's idea to take her climbing at the Great Sycamore in the first place. And even if it wasn't, Brightheart is a warrior–and what's more, she's Squirrelpaw's mentor. She had every right and authority to refuse Squirrelpaw's request, but she chose not to do so _even though she knew of the danger there_. We had a Clan meeting not too long ago discussing the dogs at Snakerocks, in case you need a reminder. If you really want to look for someone to blame, perhaps you should be looking at your daughter instead of ours."

"_How dare you?_" Frostfur screeched, her tail lashing with fury. Several cats turned their heads to stare at her, but she didn't appear to notice. "How dare you blame Brightheart? She's been crippled for life! She only has half of a StarClan-forsaken face now! You have no right to blame her when she's been hurt the way she has!"

"W-what?" Fireheart felt his stomach drop as Squirrelpaw's voice piped up again. He turned around to see the small ginger molly staring at Frostfur, her eyes full of fear. "What do you mean, she has only half a face? That–that's not true, is it?"

"Now you've done it," he snarled at Frostfur, who looked stunned as if she hadn't expected Squirrelpaw to hear her. "What did we just get through telling you about upsetting Squirrelpaw? Tell me, Frostfur, are you too stupid to follow even the most basic of instructions or are you having trouble with language comprehension today?"

Frostfur stared at him. "I..."

"Save it," Fireheart interrupted. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say. I'm sorry Brightheart was hurt, but I will not tolerate your behavior towards Squirrelpaw. She's my daughter–mine and Sandstorm's–and quite frankly, I'm less concerned with Brightheart's needs than hers. If that's a problem for you, well, you'll just have to learn to deal with it. End of story."

Without another word, he turned around and stalked away with Sandstorm padding alongside him. Squirrelpaw looked up at him sadly as they passed by her, and Fireheart had to quash another surge of anger in order to stop himself from racing back over to Frostfur and swiping his claws over her muzzle. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he laid his tail gently over his daughter's shoulder and guided her back to her den.

"Get some rest," Sandstorm meowed gently. "You've had a long day."

"Okay," Squirrelpaw agreed, nodding. She hesitated for a moment, then asked quietly, "Is–is it true what Frostfur said? Was Brightheart really hurt that badly?"

"Yes," Fireheart admitted, knowing it wouldn't do any good to lie. She was bound to see what had happened to her mentor sooner or later, at any rate. "Yes, she was."

Squirrelpaw's tail drooped. "Oh..." she meowed. "But–but she'll recover, right? Yellowfang can fix her. Can't she?"

"Well...it will be difficult for Yellowfang to fix her completely," Fireheart answered honestly. "But she and Spotpaw will get Brightheart back on her feet, and we'll be there to help her get used to performing her warrior duties half-blind. And once she's done with that, she can resume training you again. Don't worry yourself too much, Squirrelpaw. Everything will be fine in the end. We'll make sure of it."

"Thanks, Dad," Squirrelpaw meowed quietly.

"You're welcome," the flame-colored warrior replied, resting his tail-tip gently on top of her shoulder. "Now, go and take a nap. You can have the rest of the day off if you want."

Squirrelpaw nodded and turned around, pushing her way into the apprentices' den. Fireheart watched his daughter disappear before turning around and walking away, letting out a long sigh. He felt Sandstorm brush her cheek against his and turned his head to touch his nose to her ear.

"She's going to be fine," Sandstorm murmured. "Rainpaw and the others will take care of her."

"I know," Fireheart agreed, grateful that Squirrelpaw at least had her siblings to support her.

Of course, Brightheart's injury and Squirrelpaw's emotional trauma weren't the only things weighing on his mind. He knew they had to think of a plan to get rid of the dogs before anyone else was maimed, or worse, killed by them. But there was no telling how long that would take, nor how many other ThunderClan warriors were hurt before they could get rid of them.

Indeed, the only high point seemed to be that Tigerstar hadn't shown any particular interest in his former Clan since taking over ShadowClan. At least the worst threat at the present time was coming from within their own borders. At any rate, however, Fireheart knew they would have their work cut out for them.


	17. In Need of a Plan

Even amidst worrying over his daughter, Fireheart knew he didn't have time to let his emotions get the best of him. Now that the dogs had a taste for cat blood or at least knew there were cats in the area, it was only a matter of time until the Clan was hunted down. They had to figure out a plan to get rid of them before another warrior was mauled, or worse, murdered by the dogs.

On top of that, there were also Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremonies to consider. Goldenflower's kits had reached their sixth moon, and Fireheart knew it was time for them to receive mentors. Unfortunately, with everything that had happened recently, he hadn't even had time to consider who he would give them to. He certainly wouldn't have minded mentoring one of them, but he was so busy with his deputy duties and helping out with Snowpaw's training that he didn't think he could fit it into his schedule.

_Perhaps Whitestorm could take one of them, _Fireheart mused to himself. _And Sandstorm can take the other. It's been a while since she had an apprentice of her own. _

He shook his head to himself as he continued on his way through the forest, ignoring a blackbird as it flew high above his head. There was so much to do and so little time to get it done, he wasn't even sure where to start. Every single day, it seemed as if StarClan had a new problem for ThunderClan to deal with. The stress of serving as Bluestar's second in command was slowly taking its toll on him, and he hadn't eaten or slept properly in at least half a moon. And judging from what he saw of Bluestar, it was only going to get worse if or when he became the Clan's leader. Of course, Fireheart would never wish that Tigerstar were still in ThunderClan, but there were times when he hated his role as Clan deputy.

Almost instinctively, Fireheart found his gaze wandering in the direction of Snakerocks. Even though he knew the dogs were too far away to sense him now, it was impossible to feel safe knowing they had made a home inside of his territory. It wasn't as though he had never come across a dog, of course, but they had always been restrained by their Twolegs before. A pack of wild dogs was something he had no experience with, and judging by the constant fear he could sense from his Clanmates every time they ventured out of the camp, neither did anyone else.

_What kind of home is this, _he wondered despondently, _if we can't even go for a simple hunt without having to look over our shoulders all the time? _

As if that wasn't enough, there was also Frostfur's behavior to be concerned about. The white queen seemed to have gotten over her anger, but now she was spending nearly all day in her nest. She barely ate, she never went on patrols, and she refused to speak to her Clanmates. Even Cinderheart, Brackenfur, and Thornclaw's attempts at getting Frostfur to start interacting with the Clan again had been unsuccessful. Nobody seemed to know what to do to help her, and eventually, it was decided that it was best to leave her alone. Fireheart could only hope that she would pull out of whatever was wrong with her sooner rather than later.

On the bright side, Squirrelpaw had mostly gotten over her scare by now. There were still nights when he awoke to find his daughter curled up in his nest, but for the most part, she seemed to be back to her usual self.

After a while, Fireheart decided it would be best to return to the camp. He wasn't doing much good wandering through the forest by himself, and there was still work that needed to be done. Pushing his way through the gorse tunnel, he nodded quickly to Ravenflight and Runningwind as he headed over to Bluestar's den.

"Yes, Fireheart? Are you alright?" his mother greeted him as he entered, gently touching her nose to his forehead.

"I'm fine," Fireheart replied, only half-lying. "But I was just thinking...we should probably do something to get rid of the dogs, you know? I mean, it's only a matter of time until the inevitable happens at this point. Not to mention we also have to figure out what to do about Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremony."

"I was thinking the same thing," Bluestar agreed. "We should probably start off with mentors first. The Clan needs warriors more than ever now, and besides, I have a feeling it will take a few days before we can come up with a solid plan to take care of those dogs."

"Yeah, okay," Fireheart meowed, relieved that his mother seemed to have things figured out. "I was thinking about having Whitestorm and Sandstorm mentor them. If that's alright?"

"Of course," the blue-gray molly replied warmly.

"But I haven't figured out who should mentor who," he admitted. "I know I should have thought of that before, but I've been so distracted with everything that I only remembered to pick out mentors, not assignments."

"Well, there's still time for us to decide," Bluestar meowed encouragingly. "Don't worry yourself so much, Fireheart. You're doing just fine."

"Yeah...yeah, I guess," Fireheart answered, letting out a sigh. He certainly didn't feel as though he was doing fine, but it was nice to have his mother's support. Shaking his head, he continued, "So, who should we assign to each kit?"

"Whitestorm would be a good fit for Tawnykit," the blue-furred queen meowed thoughtfully. "Her spirit reminds me of Sandstorm in a way, and he did well with her. And Sandstorm can mentor Bramblekit."

"So, Whitestorm will mentor Tawnykit and Sandstorm will mentor Bramblekit," Fireheart repeated. Bluestar nodded. "Great. So...I guess that's all I needed, then. I'll go talk to Sandstorm and Whitestorm and let them know."

He turned around and started to make his way out of the den. Just as he was about to push his way through the curtain of lichen, however, he was stopped as Bluestar called out to him.

"Fireheart, wait a moment," she meowed.

"What is it?" Fireheart asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

"How are you holding up?" Bluestar asked gently, resting her tail on his shoulder. "You know, with everything that's been going on lately."

"I've been...fine, I guess," Fireheart answered hesitantly. "I mean, I get tired every now and then, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Are you sure?" his mother asked. "I know you're a hard worker, Fireheart, but there's no need to pretend everything's alright if it's not. It's natural for everyone to get overwhelmed once in a while, and you've had to deal with more than most. If there's anything you want to talk about or if you just need a day off, you can always let me know."

There was so much tenderness in her eyes that for a moment, Fireheart was tempted to spill out his frustrations to her right then and there. He wanted to tell her how tired he was, how much he hated everything that had happened to ThunderClan recently and the fact that there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it. He wanted to tell her that he missed the days where his life was simple when he was just a regular warrior and didn't have to deal with the burdens of being the Clan deputy. Most of all, he wanted to curse StarClan and ask them why they wouldn't just leave his Clan alone, why they felt the need to send one disaster after another their way. But he couldn't do that, and not just because he didn't want to sound as though he were complaining. There was too much to worry about; he didn't have time to fall apart right now. That was the burden of being a deputy. The Clan was counting on him–and Bluestar, of course–and he couldn't let them down. His own personal feelings about his Clan's troubles were just going to have to wait for him to deal with them at a more convenient time.

"Thank you, really," Fireheart meowed finally. "But I'm okay. Honestly. As I said before, it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, I'm sure things will calm down eventually."

Bluestar studied him for a few heartbeats, then nodded. "Alright," she meowed. "If you insist. But Fireheart, once you're done talking to Sandstorm and Whitestorm, I want you to take a piece of fresh-kill and then head to bed early today. You look dead on your paws and it's almost sunset anyway. We'll hold Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremony tomorrow."

Fireheart nodded, knowing it wouldn't do any good to argue, and Bluestar rasped her tongue gently over his ears. "Take care of yourself," she murmured. "You're a wonderful young warrior, darling, and I know you want to do what's best for ThunderClan, but it's important to take time for yourself as well."

"I understand, Mama," Fireheart meowed quietly.

And he did, but he also knew it wasn't as easy as Bluestar made it out to be. How could he even think about taking time for himself when there were threats to ThunderClan's safety around every corner? He couldn't just take a leisure day now, not when his Clan needed him the most. Besides, wasn't that what he agreed to when he accepted Bluestar's offer to take up the position of ThunderClan deputy? It was his duty to put his Clanmates' needs above his own–but by StarClan, he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little envious of the kits at the moment.

* * *

**Poor Fireheart is slowly losing his mind. **

**So yes, Whitestorm will get Tawnykit and Sandstorm gets Bramblekit. I _was _just going to have Fireheart mentor Bramblekit as usual, but I figured he'd be busy enough with Snowpaw as it is even if he _technically _isn't his official mentor. Not to mention the whole reason Fireheart took Bramblekit in the first place in canon was that he wanted to keep a close eye on him, but this version of Fireheart doesn't have the same mistrust in fluff boi, so he's fine with letting him go to someone else. **

**As for the reason I didn't give Tawnykit to Sandstorm, I figured that would be a little too predictable. **

**Responses to a few reviews: **

**DawnFrostofThunderClan74: Essentially, yes, this is an AU where Firepaw/heart/star is Bluestar and Thrushpelt's son. The story will make a lot more sense if you start from Echoing Flames: Into the Wild and read from there. **

**Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Fireheart, master of sass. And yeah, poor Squirrelpaw. :( **

**PheonixRune: Lol, don't worry. Frostfur isn't evil or anything, she's just grieving over her daughter's injury. Unfortunately, with the way the Clan's lifestyle is set up, there's really no good time or place to have emotions. **

**Flippy The Demon: I actually haven't decided on what to do about Cloudtail yet. I've kind of been switching back and forth between removing him from the plotline entirely and adding him into one of Fireheart and Sandstorm's litters. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	18. Blaming and Bitterness

Frostfur was roused from her nap by the sound of Bluestar calling the Clan together for a meeting. She let out a groan and slumped back into her nest, burying her head underneath her paws. The white queen knew it was Clan protocol for her to attend every meeting, but she had no intention of joining this one. She knew exactly what this meeting was for–Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremony. Goldenflower and the rest of the Clan had to be thrilled, and not that Frostfur wasn't happy for her friend as well, but she wasn't in the mood to celebrate much of anything.

"Clanmates, today we will be performing one of my favorite ceremonies," Frostfur heard Bluestar meowing, presumably from her perch on the Highrock. "Bramblekit and Tawnykit have reached their sixth moon, and in accordance with Clan tradition, they will now begin their training as warriors. Both of you, come forward please."

Although she couldn't see what was happening, Frostfur could imagine the two kits padding forward nervously, their eyes darting back and forth. A surge of bitterness welled up in her chest as she recalled her own kits' apprentice ceremony. They had been so proud of themselves that day, promising her that they would be the best warriors in ThunderClan. And for a moment, she had imagined watching her kits grow up into strong, respected warriors of ThunderClan.

But instead, almost everything that could have possibly gone wrong had done just that. First, Cinderheart had been crippled by a monster trying to run after Tigerstar–well, Tigerclaw then–and now Brightheart was permanently disfigured. Even if she managed to recover, she would always be at a disadvantage compared to the rest of her Clanmates. She had been injured protecting Squirrelpaw, and worst of all, Fireheart didn't seem to care. If anything, he seemed to think that Brightheart was to blame.

Granted, Thornclaw and Brackenfur were still perfectly healthy, but Frostfur wasn't about to get too excited about that. Judging by how her life had gone lately, it was only a matter of time until one of them was permanently injured or killed.

_Why didn't Squirrelpaw help her? _she asked for what felt like the millionth time. _Brightheart might still be okay if Squirrelpaw hadn't run away. It's her fault those dogs did this to my daughter. And Fireheart has the nerve to blame Brightheart, not to mention he was completely unsympathetic! How dare he? He doesn't know anything about what I'm going through. _

"Bramblekit, from this moment on until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Bramblepaw," Bluestar continued. "Sandstorm, you will mentor Bramblepaw. You did an excellent job with Thornclaw, and I expect you to pass on the same skills and knowledge you taught him onto your new apprentice."

_Who am I kidding? _Frostfur thought despondently. She knew Squirrelpaw wasn't to blame and that Fireheart did care, but she didn't understand why both of her daughters had been maimed. Why were they being made to suffer such horrific injuries when there were other cats who had done much worse that were still being allowed to live normal lives? For StarClan's sake, Tigerstar had tried to murder Bluestar, yet he had been allowed to become the leader of ShadowClan. There was no justice in the world, none.

"Tawnykit, from this moment on until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Tawnypaw," she heard her Clan leader meow. "Whitestorm, you will mentor Tawnypaw. You have shown yourself to be an excellent mentor and warrior, and I trust you will pass on all you know onto Tawnypaw."

Frostfur closed her eyes as her Clanmates began cheering for the new apprentices. It was easy to picture Goldenflower licking each of her children affectionately over the ears as their new denmates hounded them, eager to show Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw to their new nests. Rainpaw had probably made a nest for Tawnypaw next to her own–everyone could tell the two young mollies were fond of each other. Meanwhile, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw were most likely bounding around after their mentors, eager to get started with training even though it was nearly sunset.

_It's not fair, _she fumed bitterly. _Why does everyone else get to be happy except for me? Why are my own children out there celebrating? They shouldn't be happy; their sister is hurt! _

She shook her head. It wasn't anyone's fault that she couldn't seem to get over Brightheart's injury, but while the logical part of her mind knew this, she still couldn't rid herself of the nagging feeling that her Clanmates should have been more sympathetic to her feelings. But no, they just had to be happy while she had never felt more miserable in her entire life.

The entrance to the den rustled, and Frostfur lifted her head to see Dustpelt, Ravenflight, and Runningwind padding inside. Her Clanmates were talking amongst themselves eagerly, and none of them took any notice of her as they settled into their nests a few tail-lengths away from her own.

"Bramblepaw looks like he'll make a good warrior," Dustpelt meowed. "He definitely has his father's size–or will when he's older–which will be useful in battle."

"Yeah, and fortunately, he has his mother's personality," Ravenflight commented.

"If they have half of their parents' gifts, they'll both make fine warriors," Runningwind meowed. "And Whitestorm and Sandstorm will be good at bringing their talents out. Bluestar and Fireheart chose their mentors well."

_Well, it's nice to know that they can at least do something well. A pity they don't seem to know the first thing about keeping their Clanmates safe. _

_It's not their fault. _

_Yes, it is. _

Frostfur listened in silence as the three toms talked eagerly, seemingly oblivious to her presence. Not that she was going to complain about being ignored, of course. She would much rather have things this way if the alternative meant pretending to be excited over a ceremony that meant nothing to her.

_I hate them. _

_No, I don't. _

Finally, fed up with listening to the trio, the white-furred warrior lifted her head and snapped, "For StarClan's sake, if you three are going to sit around gossiping, would you mind going _outside _to talk? Some of us are trying to sleep here, you know."

The three warriors looked at her indignantly and Dustpelt meowed, "Well, excuse us. The last time I checked, you don't get to tell us where we can and can't have a conversation."

"I don't care," Frostfur growled. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she didn't care anymore. "In case you haven't noticed, not everyone is in the mood to listen to a bunch of insufferably cheerful idiots. Your wants and needs aren't any more important than anyone else's, so maybe start thinking of others for once."

"Nice idea," the brown tabby sneered. "Why don't you try it out?"

"Let it go," Ravenflight muttered to his brother. "If she wants to be a pain, let her. She'll get over it one way or another."

"Fine," Dustpelt sighed. Turning his head to address Frostfur again, he added, "We'll leave if it makes you happy. But in the future, maybe try considering the fact that just because you're upset doesn't give you the right to be rude to everyone for no reason. For the love of StarClan, Willowpelt's son _died _and you don't see her acting the way you are. You aren't the only one who's been hurt lately, so stop acting as if you're special."

Frostfur lashed her tail angrily and didn't respond. Turning her head away sharply, she settled back down into her nest and listened as the three warriors padded out of the den. What gave Dustpelt the right to talk to her that way? Who did he think he was? Her Clanmates were all the same. They didn't care that she was hurt; they only cared about themselves.

_No, they don't, _a voice in her head argued. _They just don't spend as much time dwelling on the past. _

_What's the difference? _Frostfur snapped. _If they cared, they would be in here helping me. _

_The world doesn't stop for one cat. Besides, you don't really believe what you're saying, do you? _

_I don't know what I believe anymore. All I know is that my daughters are both mutilated and there's nothing anyone can do about it. It isn't fair. _

_Life isn't fair. _

_Thanks for pointing out the obvious. _

Frostfur curled up in her nest and turned to face the wall, hating her Clanmates for having the nerve to be happy and hating herself for the fact that she just couldn't seem to get over it.

* * *

**So I decided to write a chapter from Frostfur's perspective since she's been going through a bit of a rough time lately. Don't worry, things will be resolved eventually, but she needs to work through her issues first. **

**On a happier note, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw are apprentices now! And yes, Tawnypaw and Rainpaw do like each other. Ravenflight will get someone eventually. Probably Smudge? I don't know for sure, but someone. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	19. Shattered Illusions

There were several talents that the ThunderClan deputy possessed. He could track almost anything, although his skills weren't quite as good as Sandstorm in that regard. His quick wit was a source of both respect and frustration for nearly every cat he met. And while he wasn't the strongest fighter in the forest or even in his own Clan, Fireheart's aggressiveness in battle had turned him into something of a legend.

However, one thing he was decidedly _not _good at was keeping his emotions a secret from his mother. It wasn't that he didn't try–he certainly did–but for some reason, she always managed to guess what he was feeling. Fireheart wasn't entirely sure if it was because Bluestar was his mother or because he had a terrible poker face.

Therefore, he probably should have known that something was up when she asked him to accompany her on a walk through the forest.

Fireheart padded silently through the forest beside his mother, making sure to stay ever so slightly behind out of respect. It was a quiet day, but that didn't do anything to alleviate the turmoil of frustrations and worries on his mind. If anything, it almost felt as though the peaceful atmosphere was mocking him, that is if an atmosphere was capable of mocking someone.

"So..." Fireheart meowed after the silence had dragged on longer than he would have liked. "Is...there something you needed to talk to me about?"

"I just wanted to check to see how you were doing," Bluestar meowed gently. "You've had a lot going on lately, and besides, it's been a while since I got to spend any time with you."

"What do you mean? I'm in your den practically every day," he pointed out in confusion.

"I meant time that isn't spent worrying over Clan matters," his mother clarified. She shook her head. "As I was saying though, how are you feeling?"

Fireheart glanced down at his paws. "I'm fine," he meowed shortly.

In truth, he wasn't and probably hadn't been for a long time, but he didn't want to burden Bluestar any more than she already had been. It wasn't as though he couldn't handle his emotions, after all. He could survive having his entire life turned on its head by the discovery that he wasn't a kittypet; surely he could handle a little bit of stress.

However, Bluestar wasn't buying it. "Fireheart, I've seen what _fine _looks like when it comes to you, and believe me, this isn't it. You're short-tempered and defensive, you don't socialize with your friends as much, you look dead on your paws all the time, and I don't think I've seen you eat properly in days. It's okay to tell me if you're not feeling well, you know."

Fireheart shook his head and continued to stare down at his paws. He was grateful for his mother's concern, but she was worrying over nothing. Keeping a firm grip on his emotions was a part of his duty as a warrior and ThunderClan deputy. Of course, he _had _emotions–everyone had emotions. The difference was that he wouldn't–couldn't–allow himself to be ruled by his emotions.

Yet at the same time, he was tired of it all. He was tired of being strong; he was tired of feeling as though he was being hunted every time he set foot outside the camp. Most of all, he was tired of worrying over when or how the next tragedy would strike his Clan. Fireheart respected StarClan as much as any of his Clanmates, but it was hard not to resent them when they could grant Tigerstar nine lives and send storms when they were angry, yet wouldn't do anything to help ThunderClan get rid of a few dogs.

"I–I really am fine," he meowed finally. Bluestar just looked at him, obviously not believing a word. Fireheart shook his head. "Fine. Okay, I guess I could be doing better, but it's really nothing you need to worry about."

"You know I _do _worry," she meowed, resting her tail on his shoulder. "You're my kit, after all. It's part of a mother's job to worry about her children."

"I _know_," Fireheart insisted. "But...I mean, I just..."

Too late, he realized he was shaking. Gritting his teeth, Fireheart dug his claws into the ground, feeling a slight stinging sensation as a few of them were torn off. Something wet and sticky formed around his paw, and he realized he was bleeding.

And he snapped.

"I hate this!" Fireheart spat, lashing his tail. "I hate everything that's going on. I hate the fact that _nothing _has been going right lately, I hate our stupid excuses for warrior ancestors who can't seem to do anything useful, and I hate the fact that we're supposed to just _accept _the fact that someone like Tigerstar is worthy of being granted nine lives. It's all complete and utter fox dung, and _I can't take it anymore_."

If Bluestar made any move to speak, he didn't notice. Instead, the flame-colored tom paced back and forth as all of his anger and frustration finally spilled over.

"Ever since I became deputy, we've had one disaster after another," he continued ranting. "First our home was burned to the ground, and who knows how long it will take the forest to recover from that? Then we found out that a murderer–or at least an attempted one–was allowed to become the leader of ShadowClan. One of our kits was _murdered, _for StarClan's sake, and by his own half-brother, no less! Now we have dogs living at Snakerocks and Brightheart lost half her face. And you know what the worst part is? There's nothing any of us can do about it."

"And that's not even to mention everything else that happened before Tigerstar was exiled," Fireheart went on. "I lost my best friend when he started mooning over a RiverClan queen. My entire life was turned upside down when I found out that everything I believed about myself was a lie, and again when I learned that Thistleclaw was on some sort of posthumous jealousy rampage and trying to ruin both of our lives. When I was still an apprentice, I nearly died twice and faced Brokenstar–all while being one of the youngest apprentices in training. And did I ever complain? No. I did my duty to ThunderClan and kept control of myself because that's what you're _supposed _to do as a warrior. But everything has been going downhill, and I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of everything going wrong, and I'm tired of being strong all the time."

"Fireheart," Bluestar whispered, looking at him sadly.

"I mean...Rainkit is dead," Fireheart meowed, feeling his heart twist at the unfairness of the death of Willowpelt's sweet, innocent little son. "He's never going to train alongside his siblings or earn his warrior name, he's never going to have a mate or kits, and...he's just never going to grow up. And because of some ancient tradition, we're expected to travel down to Fourtrees on the night of every full moon and be civil to the cats who are responsible!"

Bluestar narrowed her eyes. "Do you believe all of ShadowClan knew?" she asked seriously.

Fireheart paused for a moment. "Maybe not _all _of them," he acknowledged. He resumed his pacing again as he added, "But Tigerstar definitely knew; you can be sure of that. Darkstripe never did anything that Tigerstar didn't know about. He's a follower, not a leader, and he idolized Tigerstar more than anyone in the forest."

His energy finally spent, Fireheart sat down and exhaled slowly. He was no longer angry, just tired and sad. Bluestar padded over to him and began rasping her tongue gently over his ears. Fireheart rested his head against his mother's chest as she comforted him, feeling rather like a kitten who had just woken up from a nightmare.

After a few moments, she meowed gently, "You are not obligated to be strong all the time, and there's no shame in letting your emotions show. That wouldn't be fair of me to expect such a thing of you, especially when things aren't going well. It's true that you have more responsibilities than the rest of your Clanmates, but you're still a normal cat, Fireheart."

"I guess," Fireheart agreed slowly. "It's just...sometimes I don't know why I'm doing any of this anymore. If we're going to keep being hit by one disaster after another until the end of time, then what's the point?"

"Hard times are a part of Clan life," Bluestar meowed. "But no matter what, things do get better. It may take a while yet, but one day, there will be peace in ThunderClan. You've done a wonderful job so far, Fireheart, and I know you're going to be alright. You just need to know that it's okay for you to say something if you're feeling overwhelmed."

Fireheart nodded and touched his nose to his mother's cheek as she continued with her steady, rhythmic licks to his ears. He wasn't sure whether he was actually alright or not, but he was grateful for Bluestar's comfort.

"Come on," she murmured. "Let's get back home and then you can get some rest. Take the day off today, Fireheart. I'll organize the rest of the patrols for you."

Together, the two cats turned around and headed back in the direction of the camp. During the walk back, Fireheart kept silent the entire time. This time, however, the silence wasn't punctuated by any of the millions of tangents ThunderClan's troubles always seemed to send his mind off on.

* * *

** Poor Fireheart. The guy needs a break or at least a cookie. But no waffles. Firestar doesn't like waffles. **

**Responses to a few reviews: **

**draconic skysong: Yep, lesbian cats! Because unlike the Erins, I'm not a FUCKING COWARD. **

**Totem-Mimikyu: Glad you enjoyed it! **

**Shadow: Brightheart and Swiftrunner are first cousins, so no. **

**Bramble642: The announcement was never made public, and I actually didn't publish it in a chapter. Basically, Fireheart just quietly mentioned it to his friends and just like any other Clan news, it spread throughout the rest of the vineyard. I don't think that's the right phrase, but you get what I mean. **

**Silver: Oh boy, this could be a bit of a long explanation, but let me give it a shot. **

**First of all, Fireheart does care about Brightheart and his defensiveness doesn't come from any sort of belief that what happened to Brightheart isn't as bad as what happened to Squirrelpaw. But Squirrelpaw is his daughter and she was traumatized, and on top of that, Frostfur was being an asshole by constantly blaming her for the attack. **

**On top of that, the Clans are good at dealing with physical injuries, but not so much with emotional ones. Brightheart has a gifted medicine cat in Yellowfang taking care of her, and once she recovers enough to leave the medicine den, her Clanmates will help her adjust to having only one good eye so she can continue being a warrior. But when it comes to dealing with things like trauma, nobody really has any idea how to handle that. **

**And Fireheart knows this. True, there are herbs that Squirrelpaw can take, but even those can only do so much. In the canon books, Cinderpelt says that there are limits to what herbs can do to help a cat's mental health. Most of Squirrelpaw's healing will need to come from emotional support, but with the way the Clans are set up, there isn't a lot of time for that. If you remember from _Bluestar's Prophecy_, when Bluepaw was grieving over the loss of her mother and then later the loss of her sister, all anyone told her was that she needed to get over it. They had no empathy for the fact that she clearly took the deaths of her loved ones even harder than most (and that's saying a lot). **

**Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Fireheart's head just...isn't in a good place right now. He's been under pressure ever since Tigerstar was exiled, and things have slowly been getting worse and worse over time. To make matters worse, while Fireheart does believe that controlling your emotions is an important part of being a warrior, he can't distinguish between controlling and suppressing them until he explodes. His behavior towards Frostfur was a result of her blaming Squirrelpaw, worry for his daughter, and several moons of pent-up stress and frustration. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	20. Pondering

At long last, after what felt like seasons of misfortune, a stroke of good luck finally fell ThunderClan's way. Two days after Fireheart's outburst to her in the middle of the forest, Yellowfang informed Bluestar that Brightheart was well enough to return to the warriors' den.

"She should stick to doing light duties for some time, but she can help out with gathering bedding for the elders," the old medicine cat told her. "That way, she can get used to getting around with only one good eye."

"That's great news, Yellowfang," Bluestar purred. "I assume her family already knows?"

"They do. I told them to wait outside while I give Brightheart one last checkup. Someone should let Squirrelpaw know too, though," Yellowfang meowed. "I'm sure she'll want to see her mentor again."

"I'll go do that now," Bluestar promised, dipping her head to the medicine cat.

She turned around and headed over to the apprentices' den, passing by Frostfur, Thornclaw, and Cinderheart on her way there. The three warriors were looking around anxiously, and Bluestar guessed that they were waiting for Brightheart to come out of the medicine den. Brackenfur was out training with Redpaw at the moment, but the ThunderClan leader figured he was just as eager to see his sister as well. Cinderheart and Thornclaw waved their tails in greeting, but Frostfur kept her eyes averted. Bluestar suppressed a sigh; the white queen had pulled out of her depression and gone back to her warrior duties, but she still seemed uncomfortable around her and Fireheart.

As she drew closer to the apprentices' den, she spotted Squirrelpaw and Snowpaw sharing a mouse together. A few paces away, Tawnypaw was talking animatedly with Rainpaw, her tail waving about eagerly. All four of them looked over at her as she approached, identical expressions of curiosity on their faces.

"Hi, Bluestar," Squirrelpaw greeted her. "Can we help you?"

"That's alright, Squirrelpaw," Bluestar meowed warmly. "I have some good news for you, though. Brightheart is out of the medicine den now."

Squirrelpaw's eyes lit up. "Really? She is?" the fluffy ginger molly asked eagerly. "Can I see her? When can we start training again?"

"Yes, she is, and she should be out soon," Bluestar replied. "Her family will probably want to see her first, though, so we should give them time alone together. But I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you too, Squirrelpaw."

"But what about training?" her granddaughter repeated.

Bluestar shook her head. "I'm afraid that will have to wait for a little while longer," she told the younger cat apologetically. "Brightheart still needs to recover the rest of her strength, and besides that, she has to get used to patrolling, hunting, and fighting with only one eye."

"I understand," Squirrelpaw meowed, nodding. She frowned as she added, "But–but she _will _be able to train me again eventually, right? I won't have to get a new mentor, will I?"

"No, of course, you won't," Bluestar reassured her. "I'm not going to assign you to a new mentor just because Brightheart is injured. You will need to train under another warrior until she's well enough to mentor you again, but she'll still be your official mentor."

"Okay," the ginger molly answered, nodding in understanding. "Thanks, Bluestar."

Bluestar nodded and headed over to the fresh-kill pile to grab a piece of prey. She glanced around the camp for Fireheart, but he was nowhere to be seen.

_Must be out on patrol, then, _the blue-gray queen thought to herself.

Picking up a thrush, she carried it over to her den, nodding to Whitestorm and Willowpelt, who were sharing a meal. As she passed by, Bluestar couldn't help glancing sympathetically at Willowpelt. The pale gray queen had been understandably subdued ever since her son's death. She was doing better now, but it was hard to miss the look of sorrow that flashed in her eyes whenever she saw Sorrelkit and Sootkit playing together.

Briefly, Bluestar wondered what had become of Darkstripe after the Clans had chased him out of the forest. It was widely assumed that he was dead, but there hadn't been a body to bury, so nobody really had any proof. Of course, even if he was alive, Bluestar doubted that he would ever return knowing that the entire forest was out for his blood.

_Well, not including _his _Clan, _she thought grimly.

Perhaps it was her own prejudice talking, but Bluestar couldn't help agreeing with Fireheart's belief that Tigerstar had known about Rainkit's murder. Darkstripe had always been his closest follower, and on top of that, knowing Tigerstar he would have wanted to know what his deputy was doing at all times. He had always been paranoid about traitors–ironic, really, considering his own history. The idea of Darkstripe doing anything without his former mentor's knowledge was laughable at best.

However, if that were the case, then it raised another set of questions. If Tigerstar had indeed known that Darkstripe killed Rainkit, then he must have also known that the former ShadowClan deputy had been hunting on ThunderClan territory. But she couldn't see how that would make sense. For one thing, if Tigerstar wanted revenge on ThunderClan as she suspected he did, sending his deputy to hunt on their land was a poor way of going about things. The dark tabby was many things, but stupid was not one of them and he would know better than anyone that it was a terrible idea to put himself on ThunderClan's radar.

Bluestar shook her head, taking a bite out of her thrush. She was beginning to think that she would never truly understand her old deputy's motives. How did one go from being a loyal, if ill-tempered, warrior to a power-hungry attempted murderer within the span of a few moons?

Part of her wanted to believe that it was Thistleclaw's fault. After all, he had been the one to train Tigerstar. In a way, Bluestar supposed his teaching methods were partially to blame. At the same time, however, she knew that she should have seen the warning signs.

_I should have known something wasn't right the moment he almost got Fireheart killed on his second day in ThunderClan, _Bluestar thought.

It seemed strange that she had been one of the only cats to realize how dangerous Thistleclaw was, yet she hadn't noticed that there was anything off about Tigerstar's behavior. But then again, Bluestar reasoned, she had been preoccupied with worrying over her kit. Perhaps it was understandable that Tigerstar's treachery had flown under her radar until it was quite literally at her throat.

Shaking her head, Bluestar brushed away her thoughts and returned to her meal. Regardless of what she had missed, there was no point in thinking about it now. Tigerstar was the leader of ShadowClan now; he had gotten what he wanted. She would just have to worry about what he might be plotting against her Clan later. Brightheart was on the road to recovery after nearly a moon in the medicine den. There were plenty of things to be concerned about, but Bluestar was more than happy to take this one day to be glad that something had gone right for a change.

* * *

**Brightheart's all better! Well, not quite, but she's getting there. And yes, she's still going to be Squirrelpaw's mentor because again, I'm not a FUCKING COWARD. She just needs time to adjust first. **

**Responses to a few reviews: **

**Amberflame805: Glad you enjoyed it! I was trying to do something different with Tigerstar's character here. He's still definitely an evil asshole, but he's not hell-bent on revenge like he was in canon. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I was never that impressed with him as a villain in canon, especially considering the fact that when you really think about it, all he was doing was throwing a decades-long temper tantrum over the fact that Bluestar liked Firestar more than him. **

**draconic skysong: Agreed. The poor boy has been through enough lately. **

**Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Poor Fireheart, lol. But don't worry Fireheart, you also have the main character role protecting you. **

**Totem-Mimikyu: Yes and no. At the moment, I don't have any plans to delete Bitter Repercussions, but I'm also running low on inspiration. I was considering restarting it from the beginning, but I've gotten a little sidetracked with Echoing Flames and Fire Rising. **

**Guest 1: Representation. When every single one of your characters is an able-bodied cishet, there's a problem. And if you think about it, there's really no reason NOT to have LGBTQ+ representation in writing. **

**The Hunter team and editors have no problem with writing in xenophobia, infanticide, murder, pedophilia, and death from childbirth, so clearly they're not against adding sensitive topics into the series. Yet out of every couple in the Warriors franchise, there's only _one _confirmed gay couple (that being Ravenpaw and Barley). To put it simply, they're more leery about having two males or two females in a relationship than hate crimes, murdering babies, childbirth death, and racism–things that are _actually harmful_. **

**So that means one of two things: either they're homophobic or they're too cowardly to get with the times. **

**And that's not even to mention all of the ableism in the Warriors series, but I'll get into that discussion another time. **

**Guest 2: Yes, the series will go on into the second arc. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	21. Blind Devotion

Darkstripe didn't need to hear the rattling of the brown pellets against the silver dish or smell the dry, musty odor that wafted into his nostrils to know what was happening. His captor–he refused to call the Twoleg his owner–had finally decided to take the time to pour a few mouthfuls of food into his bowl. Screwing up his face in disgust, the dark tabby swallowed a few bites of pellets before slinking back over to his bed, desperately longing for a drink of water or a mouse to get the taste out of his mouth.

It was insulting, being forced to stoop as low as to accept kittypet food for his meals. Unfortunately, it wasn't as though he had much of a choice. Darkstripe still hadn't figured out a way to escape even after all this time, and Tigerstar hadn't come to save him yet. He didn't blame Tigerstar, of course–his old friend probably had a lot to worry about, and it took time to plan a rescue. Sooner or later, he would come for him. Until that day, however, Darkstripe had no choice but to eat the kittypet food he was given. It was either that or starve to death.

_Perhaps I should look on the bright side. Surely this can't be worse than living in ThunderClan under Bluestar and Fireheart, _Darkstripe thought.

He still couldn't believe that Bluestar would name _Fireheart _of all cats her deputy. Anyone could see that he wasn't the right cat for the job and the only reason she had chosen him was that he was her son. Granted, Fireheart certainly wasn't the worst hunter or fighter Darkstripe had ever come across, but he wasn't anything special either. He certainly hadn't done anything to deserve the position of Clan deputy over any of the other warriors in ThunderClan.

_Bluestar is pathetic. Always worrying over Fireheart and having a breakdown every time he so much as gets a scratch, _the dark gray tabby thought to himself with a sneer.

Even amidst his violent apathy towards Fireheart and Bluestar, it had been obvious that their relationship went beyond the typical bond between a mentor and an apprentice. Darkstripe could still remember the ThunderClan leader pacing back and forth outside the medicine den as Spottedleaf treated Firepaw's wounds, seemingly oblivious to the attention she was attracting from her Clan. He could also remember the fury in her eyes as she spat at Tigerclaw, threatening him with exile if Firepaw died from his injuries. It was an extreme reaction, especially from someone who had watched other cats get hurt countless times and hardly batted an eye. Looking back on it now, it seemed incredible that it had taken as long as it did for the Clan to realize that Fireheart was Bluestar's son.

In a way, Darkstripe could _almost _find it in himself to pity his old leader. He had heard the story of what happened to her first litter, snatched away in the middle of the night by a fox or a badger while she slept. Knowing that it was almost possible to feel sorry for her–but no. She didn't deserve anyone's sympathy. After all, StarClan had still given her every blessing in the world.

If there was anyone who deserved pity, it was Tigerstar. He was the strongest fighter in Clan history, and yet Bluestar had showered all her praise and affection onto Fireheart instead. She had banished him from ThunderClan and ordered him to be killed on sight if he ever returned, all because he wanted to make ThunderClan stronger. Even now that he had risen to the rank of Clan leader in ShadowClan, the other leaders clearly didn't respect Tigerstar. Darkstripe was certain that Bluestar had something to do with that.

Regardless, however, he knew there was nothing anyone could do to change the past. It wouldn't do any good to worry over Bluestar's blatant favoritism of her kit or the unfair treatment Tigerstar was receiving. The only thing he could do was focus on the future. And one day, Darkstripe promised himself, he would right the wrongs committed against his old friend.

* * *

When Darkstripe opened his eyes, he was startled to find himself in a dark, damp forest. At first, he was exhilarated, thinking that he must have escaped the Twoleg nest somehow. Soon, however, his senses returned to him. He certainly didn't remember leaving, and more importantly, he had never seen this part of the forest in his entire life.

_But if I'm not anywhere on Clan territory, where am I? _Darkstripe wondered.

Slowly, he got to his paws and began to walk forward, tasting the air for any hint of a familiar scent. As he continued on through the strange, unfamiliar woodland, Darkstripe heard the sound of pawsteps approaching him from behind. Sliding his claws out, he spun around and found himself face to face with a large tortoiseshell molly. Her fur was covered in scars and her amber eyes glittered coldly. But that wasn't what frightened Darkstripe about her the most. All in all, she looked like any other cat, yet there was still something about her that wasn't quite mortal.

"Who–who are you?" he asked, trying and failing to hide the tremor in his voice.

The strange cat regarded him coldly. "So you mean to tell me that my name has been forgotten already?" she asked. "I would have thought that ThunderClan would at least have the decency to keep my memory alive, especially after they ruined my life."

"I'm a ShadowClan warrior!" Darkstripe spat, anger lending him courage. "I'll never call myself a ThunderClan warrior again. Never!"

"Ah yes, forgive me. I'm afraid I'm a very busy cat, and as such don't have time to waste watching over lesser beings," the tortoiseshell sneered. "If you must know, my name is Mapleshade. I was once a warrior of ThunderClan, just like you, but I was exiled when I had kits with a RiverClan warrior named Appledusk. My kits drowned when I tried to cross the river, and I was rejected by the one cat I loved. In the end, I was killed by a pathetic RiverClan apprentice named Perchpaw. Now, I roam this forest, ensuring that all those who wronged me are punished."

Mapleshade walked around him slowly, her pelt brushing against his occasionally. Darkstripe tried not to retch as her putrid stench filled his nostrils. It seemed as though she hadn't bothered to wash for at least a moon or two. Then again, he doubted that any amount of grooming would ever be enough to wash the scent of this forest out of a cat's pelt.

"No need to tell me anything about yourself," she meowed, her voice laced with contempt. "Darkstripe, a former warrior of ThunderClan and now the former deputy of ShadowClan. Tigerstar's most loyal follower, why, you valued his friendship so much that you followed him into exile. Such bravery! Such comradery! If only the Clans had more cats like you, Darkstripe."

Darkstripe felt his neck fur bristling. It wasn't hard to see that she was mocking him. He dug his claws into the ground, lashing his tail.

"Don't bother trying to fight me. You won't stand a chance," Mapleshade meowed dismissively.

"What do you want with me?" Darkstripe snapped.

"Personally? Nothing at all," the tortoiseshell molly replied smoothly. "I didn't summon you here, after all. You brought yourself to this place."

"How?" he challenged her.

"That's for you to figure out," Mapleshade meowed, licking her chest fur.

Darkstripe shook his head irritably. He didn't need this strange molly making a mockery of him–he had more important things to worry about. His Clan needed their deputy back, and he still hadn't found a way to escape the Twoleg nest. If Mapleshade wanted to be a bother, she could find someone else to talk to instead.

"Look, I appreciate the conversation and all, but I have to leave," he meowed sharply. "I have places to be."

"Suit yourself," Mapleshade answered, clearly not at all bothered by his rudeness. "Perhaps I will see you again one day, Darkstripe."

_I doubt it, _Darkstripe thought scornfully, turning away and padding deeper into the forest.

He hadn't gone very far when he ran into another cat. Unlike Mapleshade, however, he recognized this one on sight. It had been moons since Darkstripe had last seen him, his throat torn out as punishment for supposedly murdering Fireheart–Firekit then–but the massive form and spiky gray and white fur were unmistakable.

"Darkstripe," Thistleclaw sneered. "What a surprise. And here I thought the Dark Forest only accepted cats with courage."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Darkstripe asked, bristling. "I have courage! I abandoned my Clan to follow Tigerstar."

Thistleclaw just curled his lip. "Congratulations, you gave up your home to follow your precious master."

"I did it out of loyalty–" the dark gray tabby began, but Thistleclaw cut him off.

"No, you did it because you're a sniveling coward. You couldn't handle the thought of being in ThunderClan without Tigerstar's protection, so you took the easy way out and decided to live life as a rogue," he meowed contemptuously. "And look where all of your supposed _loyalty _has gotten you. Shut away, cut off from the outside world, an equal among the lowest form of life. A _kittypet_. I've been watching you, Darkstripe. You're weak, you're pathetic. You could have been searching for a way back to the forest, and yet you've put all your hopes into waiting for a cat that isn't going to come for you."

"I _have _been searching for a way out! It's not as easy as you might think!" Darkstripe meowed defensively. "And what do you mean, a cat who isn't going to come for me? Tigerstar _will _come to get me. You'll see. I'm the ShadowClan deputy; I'm _important_. He needs me to help control the Clan, and besides, I've always been loyal to him. He'll want me there after all I've done for him."

"If you believe that, Darkstripe, you're even more pathetic than I thought," Thistleclaw growled. "Tigerstar doesn't care about you. He's not going to come to save you; he's already chosen another cat to serve as his deputy. You never meant anything to him. All you ever were was a tool, someone who was only there to worship him."

"I don't have time to listen to this," Darkstripe snapped. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about. Leave me alone."

Before Thistleclaw could get another word in, he turned tail and raced away into the dense woodland. Branches whipped at his face, but the dark gray warrior hardly noticed them. Thistleclaw was _wrong_. Tigerstar did care about him; he just knew it. His old friend would never abandon him to live as a kittypet, not after everything he had sacrificed for him.

Suddenly, Darkstripe awoke with a start to find himself back in the Twoleg nest. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he began licking his chest fur. It had only been a dream after all. Of course, he realized, why should he have expected anything else? Perhaps the Dark Forest was real, but everything Thistleclaw and Mapleshade had said to him couldn't be. His mind was simply playing tricks on him after being imprisoned in Twolegplace for so long.

_Tigerstar abandoning me? And choosing another cat to be his deputy? As if, _Darkstripe scoffed to himself.

Sooner or later, he would prove Thistleclaw wrong once and for all. Tigerstar would come for him, and everything would go back to how it was meant to be. He just had to find a way outside first.


	22. The Demand

"Are you sure you want to go? It's not too late to change your mind, you know."

"I'm _fine, _Frostfur," Brightheart meowed, sounding exasperated. "I have to face the other Clans at some point, you know. Better to just do it now instead of waiting around. Besides, Yellowfang said I can go to the Gathering and I trust her judgment."

Fireheart shook his head to himself as he listened to the two mollies arguing. Nearly a moon had passed since Brightheart left the medicine den, and so far, her recovery had gone smoothly. She still needed work on her fighting skills, but her hunting and stalking technique was almost back to where they had been before her injury. Unfortunately, ever since Brightheart had returned to her regular duties, Frostfur had made it a point to hover around her at every opportunity.

In a way, he supposed he couldn't blame her. Brightheart was her daughter; of course, she was worried. But it was obvious that the ginger and white molly was growing weary of her mother's overprotectiveness. More than once, Fireheart caught her suppressing a sigh whenever she saw Frostfur approaching and she seemed irritated whenever the two spoke to each other.

"Well, if you're sure," Frostfur agreed reluctantly. "But if you start feeling uncomfortable, let me know and we'll go straight home."

"Right, sure," Brightheart muttered.

Frostfur exhaled slowly and turned to head over to the fresh-kill pile, passing by Fireheart on her way there. As she walked past, the white-furred queen shot him an unreadable look. Fireheart twitched his whiskers in greeting, wondering if she was going to say something, but she just continued on her way and picked up a thrush from the pile. Once she had left, Fireheart stood up and walked over to Brightheart, who eyed him warily.

"You should get something to eat too," he told her. "We'll be leaving soon and you don't want to go to the Gathering on an empty stomach."

Brightheart relaxed visibly. "Okay, I will," she agreed. "Thanks, Fireheart."

"No problem," Fireheart meowed. "And Brightheart–try not to be too hard on Frostfur. I know she's overbearing and that's probably incredibly annoying, but she does care about you."

"I know," the younger cat replied, letting out a sigh. "But it's so _annoying_! I mean, I get that she's worried, but I'm tired of her treating me like a kit. It's like she doesn't think I'm capable of taking care of myself anymore."

"That isn't true," Fireheart reassured her. "Frostfur knows you're a capable warrior, Brightheart. She's just protective of you–as I suppose all mothers are. Believe me, I've been where you are before. I'm sure you've seen the way Bluestar acts around me."

"That's true, I have," Brightheart agreed, her eyes lighting up. "I'm surprised she lets you out of the camp sometimes."

"I can't say I disagree with you there," Fireheart chuckled, shaking his head. "Anyway, go ahead and get something to eat. Bluestar will call everyone when it's time to go."

The ginger and white molly dipped her head politely and walked past him to the fresh-kill pile. Fireheart turned around and walked over to join Sandstorm, Bramblepaw, Tawnypaw, and Goldenflower by the apprentices' den. All four cats had been selected to attend the Gathering, and Fireheart could see the excitement on the two apprentices' faces at the prospect of meeting warriors from the other Clans.

"Have you eaten yet?" he asked the group.

"We have," Sandstorm assured him.

"When are we going?" Bramblepaw piped up, his tail twitching eagerly.

"Soon," Fireheart promised the young tabby. "Bluestar just needs to get ready and then she'll call everyone to go."

Squirrelpaw, Redpaw, and Rainpaw pushed their way out of the apprentices' den, blinking sleep from their eyes. Fireheart murmured a quick greeting to each of his kits, giving them a gentle lick between their ears.

"Are you guys leaving soon?" Rainpaw asked. "It's getting dark."

"Almost, sweetheart," Fireheart replied gently.

"Do you know where Snowpaw is?" Squirrelpaw asked her father.

"He's over there with Speckletail," Fireheart answered, gesturing with his tail over to the opposite side of the camp where the white tom was sharing a mouse with his mother.

He suppressed a chuckle as his daughter nodded and hurried across the camp. It was obvious to most of the Clan that Squirrelpaw and Snowpaw were fond of each other. Fireheart had overheard the fluffy ginger molly ranting to her friend a few times about various topics–her training, an argument she had with her brother, and anything and everything in between. Of course, Snowpaw couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could interpret her mood and always knew how to comfort her. The two apprentices had even started practicing signs so they could communicate properly.

Finally, Bluestar emerged from her den, her fur freshly groomed. Fireheart walked over to meet her at the edge of the gorse tunnel, feeling her touch her nose briefly to his ear in greeting.

"Come. It's time to go," she called to the other warriors.

* * *

By the time ThunderClan arrived at Fourtrees, the other Clans were already waiting. Meowing a quick goodbye to his mother, Fireheart walked over to talk to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. The two RiverClan warriors nodded to him in greeting, and he was relieved to note that their expressions were still friendly despite the way their Clans had fought not too long ago.

"Hi, Fireheart," Mistyfoot meowed. "Is everything well in ThunderClan?"

"They're alright, I suppose," Fireheart replied, flicking his tail. "One of our warriors was injured, but she's recovering nicely."

"You mean Brightheart?" Stonefur guessed. At Fireheart's questioning look, he clarified, "I saw her when your Clan was coming down the slope. Is she alright?"

"She's doing just fine," the flame-colored warrior assured him. "Yellowfang and Spotpaw are taking good care of her."

A yowl sounded from the top of the Great Rock, and Fireheart turned his attention to the four leaders. Bluestar was standing at the head of the rock with Tallstar and Leopardstar on either side of her. Tigerstar stood at the far end on the opposite side of the RiverClan leader, his amber eyes unreadable as he surveyed the throng of cats below.

"Cats of all Clans, welcome," Bluestar meowed, her voice ringing out across the clearing. "Tigerstar has informed me that he would like to speak first tonight."

She dipped her head to the ShadowClan leader and stepped back, allowing him to take her place at the front of the Great Rock. Fireheart admired his mother's ability to show such respect toward the cat who had tried to murder her, especially when Tigerstar brushed past her without so much as a glance in her direction. He stared down at the cats below him, an odd look in his eyes.

"I come tonight with a request for ThunderClan," the massive tabby meowed. "As you know, when I left ThunderClan–"

"You mean when you were exiled from ThunderClan," Fireheart heard Squirrelpaw mutter. He shot his daughter a warning look, and she ducked her head apologetically.

As if he hadn't heard her, Tigerstar continued, "When I left ThunderClan, two kits of mine were in the nursery. They, of course, could not travel with me then, but they are apprentices now and it is time for them to join me in ShadowClan. Bluestar, I ask that ThunderClan hand over Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw."

"Never!"

Fireheart turned his head around. It was not Bluestar who answered, but Goldenflower. The golden-furred queen was on her paws, her fur bristling and her eyes gleaming with fury as she glared up at Tigerstar. The ShadowClan leader stared back down at her, seemingly unbothered by his former mate's anger.

"I'll _never _hand over my kits!" she spat, her voice filled with hatred and disgust. "Not for all the prey in the forest, and certainly not to _you_. They are not your kits anymore. You lost any claim to them when you betrayed ThunderClan. If you wanted to be a part of their lives, you should have thought about that before you tried to murder Bluestar. But you didn't. You put your own wants and needs before theirs, and now you're paying the price."

Tigerstar narrowed his eyes, but his voice was calm as he replied, "Goldenflower, I understand. You're their mother, and this must be hard for you to understand. But I assure you that–"

"I understand that you want to take my kits away from me," Goldenflower interrupted him. "That's all I need to know."

"This isn't your place to make demands like this, Tigerstar," Bluestar meowed warningly. "After all, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw are ThunderClan apprentices. Their safety is our biggest concern. How can we claim that we care about the well-being of our young warriors if we send our two newest apprentices to live in a Clan under a leader that named a kit murderer and a prey thief to the position of Clan deputy?"

"I didn't know what Darkstripe was doing!" Tigerstar insisted, his tail lashing.

"You say that, but can you prove it?" Bluestar asked.

Tigerstar didn't answer, which was more than enough of an answer. Hesitantly, Leopardstar stepped forward, glancing between her fellow Clan leaders. Fireheart narrowed his eyes, knowing that whatever she had to say, it couldn't mean anything good for ThunderClan.

"Might I make a suggestion?" the RiverClan leader asked. "Why not share the apprentices? One can go to ShadowClan and the other can stay in ThunderClan."

The cats from ThunderClan and ShadowClan all turned to look at the spotted molly as if she had grown another head.

"Are you mad? You want us to _share _my kits?" Goldenflower asked furiously. "You're pathetic! Just who do you think you are?"

"You're out of line," Leopardstar meowed imperiously. "It's not your place to speak like that to a leader."

"No! _You _are the one who is out of line," Goldenflower spat. "My children are not mice to be divided up between quarreling apprentices. They are not balls of moss to be tossed out when kits grow bored of them. Bramblepaw and Tanwypaw have spent their entire lives in ThunderClan, and you want us to split them up? To send one of them to a father that only ever cared about getting what he wanted? That is terrible, Leopardstar, and if you truly believe what you're saying is right, then it's no wonder why you've never found a cat who wants to be with you."

Leopardstar glared down at Goldenflower, her claws sliding out. On top of the Great Rock, Fireheart saw Bluestar glaring at Leopardstar and Tigerstar. Several ShadowClan and RiverClan warriors were snarling at Goldenflower as well. Frostfur and Sandstorm were glowering back, and Brightheart, Rainpaw, and Squirrelpaw had taken up a protective stance around Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw.

"This is no place to be fighting!" Tallpoppy, a ShadowClan queen, exclaimed.

"She's right," Mistyfoot meowed. "We can't forget the truce!"

Suddenly, a dark cloud fell over the clearing. The quarreling warriors suddenly froze and looked up at the sky. Fireheart glanced up as well to see that the moon had been covered by a black cloud. A rumble of thunder sounded, and the entire clearing fell, if possible, even more silent. Finally, after several heartbeats, Bluestar spoke up again.

"Come, ThunderClan. We're going home," she meowed.

Fireheart rose to his paws and walked over to meet his mother as she bounded off the Great Rock. As he headed over, he spotted Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw pressed up against Goldenflower, their eyes wide and fearful. Brightheart, Rainpaw, and Squirrelpaw were still surrounding them protectively, but Fireheart could see Tigerstar gazing at his kits from the opposite end of the clearing.

How far would Tigerstar go, he wondered, to ensure that Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw were handed over to ShadowClan?

* * *

**Tigerstar still wants his kits...and Goldenflower is not having any of it. **

**So just to clear one thing up, this Gathering actually takes place about two moons after the Gathering where Darkstripe was exiled. Fireheart and Sandstorm's kits have already gone to a Gathering, but it wasn't shown in the story. This Gathering was supposed to be the one where Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw's apprenticeships were announced, but Tigerstar kind of ruined that. **

**Also yes, Squirrelpaw and Snowpaw will be getting together. Well, when they become warriors, that is. **

**One final note, I'm working on the first chapter of a new story. In this new story, Moonflower survives the raid against WindClan and gets together with Sunfall/star. They have a daughter named Lilykit, so Bluepaw and Snowpaw get a new baby sister. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	23. Fireheart's Plan

Fireheart padded out of the warriors' den as the sun began to peek over the top of Highstones, still blinking sleep from his eyes. Across the camp, he spotted Bluestar emerging from her den beneath the Highrock, pausing for a moment to sniff at the air. He was about to head over to speak to her when he heard his name being called from behind. Turning around, he saw Sandstorm, Ravenflight, and Dustpelt emerging from the den.

"Hi, Fireheart," Sandstorm greeted him, brushing her nose against his cheek. "Want to come on the dawn patrol with us?"

"Sorry, I can't," Fireheart meowed apologetically. "I need to speak to Bluestar. But maybe we can go hunting later?"

"Sure, alright," the pale ginger molly agreed. "See you later, then."

Fireheart nodded and turned to go to meet Bluestar outside her den. The blue-gray queen was busy grooming, giving her chest fur several licks to smooth it down. He padded up to his mother and dipped his head respectfully, feeling her tongue rasp gently over his ears.

"Good morning," Bluestar meowed, her eyes warm. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Sure, is there a special flower somewhere that can make Tigerstar disappear? Because if there is, tell me where I can find it," Fireheart answered, half-joking, half deadly serious. Bluestar shook her head and tapped his shoulder gently with her tail. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you. I mean unless you're busy, of course."

"Not at all," his mother meowed kindly. "I'll always have time for you, Fireheart. Do you want to go to my den to talk or would you rather have this conversation elsewhere?"

"Er, I think your den would be best," he answered.

Bluestar nodded and led the way inside her den, pushing her way through the curtain of lichen that draped over the entrance. Fireheart followed suit, taking a seat on the sandy floor as his mother settled herself in her nest. She observed him silently, waiting patiently for him to speak as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" she prompted gently when the silence had gone on for a little too long.

Fireheart blinked, then replied, "I wanted to work on a plan to get rid of the dogs."

Nearly three moons had passed since Brightheart and Squirrelpaw were attacked by the dogs. Although nobody in ThunderClan had suffered a similar fate as of yet, Fireheart wasn't about to take any chances. The longer they waited, the more opportunities the dogs would have to attack or kill another warrior. They had to think of a plan to get rid of them.

Bluestar nodded and licked her paw, drawing it over her face. "I agree," she meowed. "Do you have any ideas on how we might do it?"

"I'm not sure yet," Fireheart admitted. He had stayed awake for several nights, trying to think of a solid plan. Unfortunately, every time he came up with one, he always thought of an idea as to why it wouldn't work.

They could lead the dogs to the gorge, but that would require trespassing on RiverClan territory, and Fireheart knew that Leopardstar would be on high alert for any ThunderClan warriors after her Clan's defeat at Sunningrocks. Not only that, but there was also the issue of how they would get the dogs to jump over the gorge in the first place. Leading them to the Thunderpath was another option, but the likelihood of _all _the dogs being hit by monsters was low at best. If they failed, the remainder of the pack would likely make their home in ShadowClan territory next. As much as Fireheart disliked Tigerstar and ShadowClan in general, even they didn't deserve to be torn apart by wild dogs. No matter what, every plan he thought of would likely end in disaster if they tried to execute it.

Then, as if StarClan had taken pity on his inability to come up with a plan and sent him an idea, the answer came to him.

"Poison," he murmured half to himself.

"Pardon me?" Bluestar asked, frowning. "What did you say?"

"We can poison the dogs," Fireheart repeated, a bit louder this time.

"How do you suggest we do that?" his mother inquired.

"Simple. Well...not really, but I think it will work," he replied. "We know the dogs have been eating our prey, so we tempt them with a bit of fresh-kill. What the dogs won't know is that the prey will be stuffed with deathberries. If deathberries can kill cats, then they should be able to kill dogs as well."

Bluestar tilted her head to the side. "But how do you know the dogs will eat the deathberries?"

"There were a few dogs living in Twolegplace while I was there," Fireheart answered. "They're all the same–large, stupid bullies with no brains. Whatever you place with their food, they'll eat it. And there aren't any deathberries growing near Snakerocks, so they won't know that the berries are dangerous."

His mother nodded slowly, a gleam entering her icy blue eyes. "That could work," she meowed finally. "Alright, Fireheart. We'll go through with your plan."

"Okay," Fireheart meowed, nodding. He hesitated, then added, "But...if my plan doesn't work, we should bring a few warriors with us. Just–just in case we need to fight the pack."

"Very well," Bluestar agreed. She narrowed her eyes and added, "However, you will _not _be fighting the pack. You'll stay home with the rest of the Clan."

"What?" Fireheart stared at the blue-gray molly in disbelief. "Why not? I'm perfectly fine; I'll be able to handle a fight with a few dogs."

"Fireheart, you know what those dogs did to Brightheart. They aren't like normal Twoleg pets. I know you're a strong warrior, but you can't win every battle," his mother meowed firmly. Her voice shook ever so slightly as she added, "I'm not losing you to them. I've already gone through that once."

"I know you're worried about me," Fireheart replied softly, touching his muzzle to his mother's shoulder. "But I need you to trust that I can take care of myself. I've faced a lot before; I can handle this. And besides...this whole plan is my idea. I should be there to make sure everything goes right."

For a moment, Bluestar didn't reply, her eyes filled with anguish as she scraped her claws against the earth. Fireheart felt a stab of mixed guilt and pity as he looked at his mother. He understood what she was feeling; if it were Squirrelpaw, Rainpaw, Redpaw, or Spotpaw in his place, he wouldn't want them fighting the dogs either. But he knew he had to do this. It was his duty to protect his Clan, even if it meant giving up his life in the process. If things went wrong, he owed it to his Clanmates to make sure the pack didn't destroy ThunderClan.

Finally, after several long heartbeats of silence, Bluestar nodded. "Alright," she whispered. "You'll come to Snakerocks."

Fireheart dipped his head as Bluestar pressed her muzzle to his forehead. "Thank you," he murmured softly.

"We should go tell the rest of the Clan," Bluestar meowed. "I'll call a meeting."

She got up from her nest and walked out of her den with Fireheart following close behind. He settled down at the base of the Highrock as Bluestar leaped on top, giving the ages-old call that summoned the rest of the Clan for a meeting. Several warriors pushed their way out of the den, looking around tiredly, and Fireheart realized that most of the Clan hadn't woken up yet. He glanced around for the dawn patrol and spotted them near the clump of nettles where the warriors shared their meals; they must have been just about to leave. Sandstorm walked over and sat down beside him, a curious look in her eyes.

"What's going on?" she whispered. "You look worried about something. Are you alright?"

"You'll see," Fireheart whispered back.

"ThunderClan, we don't have much time, so I'll get to the point," Bluestar began from her perch on the Highrock. "As you all know, there is a pack of dogs living at Snakerocks. I don't need to tell you that these dogs are a threat; you all saw what they did to Brightheart. Fireheart has come up with a plan to try to get rid of the pack. Would you like to tell the Clan what your plan is?"

Fireheart stood up and briefly described his idea to the rest of his Clanmates, acutely aware of the way their desperately hope-filled gazes were trained on him. It was as though they thought his plan was their only hope of survival. The knowledge weighed on him as though he were being dragged underwater. Should his plan fail, it would mean certain death for his Clanmates–and this time, he would only have himself to blame.

When he finished, Speckletail spoke up, "But what if the plan doesn't work? What will you do then?"

"We thought about that," Fireheart told the tabby queen. "And we decided that we'll bring a group of our strongest warriors ready to fight in case the worst should happen."

"Who will you bring?" Frostfur called out. It was the first time she had spoken to him willingly in moons.

"I'm going, for one," he replied. "But we haven't decided who else to take yet."

"Keep in mind that this mission will be dangerous–deadly, even," Bluestar meowed warningly. "Apprentices, queens, and elders must stay in the camp. This will be a warriors-only mission. Five warriors will accompany Fireheart to Snakerocks. If you wish to go, please volunteer yourself now."

Sandstorm stood up at once. "I'll go," she declared. "I could give those dogs a few scratches to remember ThunderClan by."

"What?" Rainpaw cried, leaping to her paws. "You can't go! What if the dogs catch you?"

"Dad's already going! Why do you have to go too?" Redpaw wailed.

"You have to stay at home!" Squirrelpaw insisted.

Fireheart felt his heart twist with sorrow at the devastated, pleading expressions on his kits' faces. Tawnypaw pressed her fur comfortingly against Rainpaw, giving the older apprentice a quick lick on her shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sandstorm rise to her paws and walk over to comfort their kits.

"I'll come back, I promise," she meowed gently. "We'll _both _come back. Those dogs aren't going to take us that easily."

Their four kits looked into her eyes searchingly. "You promise?"

"I promise," Sandstorm repeated firmly.

The four apprentices nodded, and she gave each of them a gentle lick between their ears. She walked back over to take her place beside Fireheart again, and the flame-colored warrior pressed his nose to her cheek. He hated having to leave their kits as much as she did, but they had to do what was best for the Clan.

"Who else would like to go?" Bluestar asked, blinking sympathetically at him.

"I will," Dustpelt volunteered.

"And me as well," Ravenflight added.

"Count me in," Swiftrunner meowed, lashing his tail.

"I'll come too," Cinderheart growled, and Fireheart was startled at the ferocity in the normally cheerful molly's voice. "Those dogs are going to pay for what they did to Brightheart."

"Fireheart, Sandstorm, Dustpelt, Ravenflight, Swiftrunner, and Cinderheart," Bluestar recited with a nod. "That should do it, then. The rest of the Clan will remain here."

"We should start preparing the fresh-kill now," Fireheart meowed solemnly. "Everyone who's coming on the mission, be ready to leave as soon as we've stuffed the last piece of prey with deathberries."

The Clan slowly dispersed as everyone went back to their regular duties for the day. Fireheart met up with the rest of the patrol; without a word, they walked over to Yellowfang's den to gather the deathberries they would use to poison the dogs. A heavy silence hung over the group; they all knew how much the rest of the Clan was counting on them to succeed. This was more than just a battle.

Once they had gathered the deathberries, the group selected several pieces of prey to stuff the bright red berries into. Fireheart took a rabbit from the pile and carefully inserted several of the berries into its mouth. One berry was usually enough to kill a cat, but he wasn't sure if the dogs' larger size would give them a stronger resistance and he wasn't going to take the risk of finding out the hard way.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked after he had finished stuffing his rabbit.

A murmur of assent arose from the rest of his patrol. Fireheart nodded and picked up his rabbit, leading the way to the gorse tunnel. Pausing at the exit to the camp, he turned around to survey his camp–his _home_–one last time. He had been born here, he had grown up here, and he had watched his family grow with Sandstorm here–and now, he might never come back again. His entire patrol might never come back again. Their families would be torn apart and nobody, not even StarClan, would be able to do anything about it.

But that was the life of a warrior and he knew that as well as anyone, so with one last deep breath, he strode through the gorse tunnel and out into the forest.

* * *

**The dogs are about to go down at last...one way or another. I decided to change Fireheart's plan to defeat the pack since the canon plan doesn't really fit in this universe, seeing as Tigerstar has nothing to do with the dogs and isn't trying to lure them into ThunderClan's camp. **

**I'll be working on a new chapter of Blazing Lilies, so you can look forward to that. :) **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	24. The Plot and the Prank

Bluestar paced back and forth in her den, pausing periodically to glance at the slowly darkening sky outside. It had been several hours since Fireheart had taken the patrol with the poisoned fresh-kill to Snakerocks, and they still hadn't returned. She tried to tell herself that she was overreacting, that Fireheart was only taking a long time because he wanted to ensure that every last dog was dead before coming home. But no matter what, she couldn't erase the image of her kit being torn to shreds by a massive brute of a dog from her mind.

_StarClan, don't take him, please. Please just let him return home safely, _she begged silently.

Her son was strong, she knew, but she couldn't help worrying about him. After all, Fireheart was certainly no stranger to life-threatening situations either. He had almost died multiple times already, even ending up unconscious for several days after the battle with ShadowClan during his apprenticeship. So far, he had gotten lucky, but Bluestar knew he wouldn't be so fortunate forever. All it would take was a single wrong move and she would lose her youngest kit.

Finally growing too exhausted to pace any longer, Bluestar curled up in her nest, glancing half-heartedly at the mouse Whitestorm had brought to her den earlier. Mice had always been one of her favorite meals, second only to voles, and most of the time she would never pass one up. Today, however, she was too sick with worry to even _think _about eating. How could she when her son could very well have walked to his slaughter today?

She couldn't even bring herself to sleep, terrified that in doing so, she would receive a message from StarClan confirming Fireheart's death. Even if she was destined to lose him, Bluestar knew she would much rather spend as much time in denial as possible. It wouldn't make her feel any better in the long run, of course, but at least she would get to spend a little more time thinking that her kit was alive and well.

_I didn't even say goodbye to him properly, _Bluestar thought, her eyes welling up. She sniffled. _I didn't wish him luck, I didn't...didn't tell him I loved him. What–what if I never get to say it again? _

She shook her head, trying to fight back the tears threatening to spill over. There was no point in wallowing in misery or self-pity now. Fireheart wasn't dead yet as far as she knew; until she had seen his body with her own eyes, it wouldn't do any good to mope around. The rest of her warriors still needed her, and she had learned long ago that brooding over a loss didn't help anyone.

Not that she was particularly good about following that particular rule, of course.

Well, she would just have to make sure to tell her kit how much he meant to her when he returned home with the rest of the patrol. That way, she could rectify her mistake.

Lost in thought, Bluestar almost didn't notice when a small commotion arose from outside her den. Curious and more than a little apprehensive, she rose to her paws and padded outside to see what was going on. A group of warriors had gathered at the entrance to the camp, their tails flickering about excitedly as they talked to someone–or perhaps a group of someones–that Bluestar couldn't quite make out. Feeling a spark of hope in her chest, she walked forward until she was just a few tail-lengths away from the group.

As she walked forward, her warriors parted to let her pass through. Bluestar's heart leaped with mingled joy and relief when she saw her son and the rest of the patrol standing at the edge of the gorse tunnel. They were noticeably exhausted, but their eyes were clear and their pelts sleek and unmarked. When Fireheart's gaze met hers, Bluestar felt tears beginning to form behind the corner of her eyes again.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, giving him several swift licks to his ears.

"Well, of course. Why? Do you really have such little faith in me?" Fireheart asked jokingly. Behind the humor, however, Bluestar could see a sense of mingled weariness and guilt in his eyes. More softly, he added, "I'm glad it's over, though."

"Are the dogs gone?" Bluestar asked, deciding to switch over to more businesslike matters for both of their sakes.

Fireheart nodded. "Sandstorm and Swiftrunner left the poisoned fresh-kill outside their den–or whatever you want to call it–and they ate it up within heartbeats," he told her. "Once we were sure that every last dog was dead, we decided to remove their bodies. That's why it took us so long to get back–you wouldn't believe how heavy they were! Even with all of our strength combined, it took us forever to move them."

Bluestar was about to ask where they had left the dogs' bodies when she found herself being nearly knocked off her paws as Squirrelpaw, Rainpaw, Redpaw, and Spotpaw came barrelling past her in an attempt to get to their parents. Chuckling to herself, she watched as Fireheart and Sandstorm were tackled to the ground by their kits, all four of them jumping up and down excitedly.

"You did it! You came back!" Squirrelpaw shouted gleefully.

"See? I knew Mom and Dad would beat those dogs!" Redpaw boasted.

"Hey, now!" Fireheart meowed, laughing. "We're glad to see you too, but we need to breathe here."

The four apprentices quickly got off of their parents but didn't move, and instead continued to badger Fireheart and Sandstorm with questions. Out of the corner of her eye, Bluestar noticed with a twinge of amusement that the rest of the patrol was receiving the same treatment from their families as well. Cinderheart was surrounded by her littermates and mother, her blue eyes shining as she recounted the tale of her adventure. Goldenflower was fussing over Swiftrunner, who looked torn between resignation and happiness. Brindleface had approached Sandstorm and was murmuring gently in her daughter's ear. Ravenflight and Dustpelt didn't have any particularly close relatives left alive, but the two brothers seemed content with seeking solace in each other.

Eventually, the Clan dispersed as everyone went back to their normal activities. Once they were gone, Bluestar turned to Fireheart and flicked her tail for him to follow her back to her den. After all that had happened, she still wanted a chance to talk to her kit in private. Even though she knew he was safe, the fear of never seeing him again was still making her heart twist painfully, as though it were being clawed by an enemy warrior.

"Mother?" Fireheart asked curiously. "Are you okay?"

Bluestar nodded, a lump forming in her throat. "I was so worried about you," she whispered, her voice choking up. "When you didn't come home all day, I thought–I thought–"

Unable to finish, she buried her muzzle into her kit's forehead again. She felt Fireheart press himself comfortingly against her, just as he had done when he was still a tiny kit and she felt overwhelmed by Clan troubles. Of course, back then he was too small to reach any higher than her legs.

"I'm not going anywhere," Fireheart meowed softly. "I promise."

"I love you," Bluestar meowed, her voice slightly muffled, relieved beyond belief that she still had a chance to say it.

Fireheart purred softly, the sound tugging almost painfully at Bluestar's heart. "I love you too, Mama."

_Thank you, StarClan...thank you for sending him back to me. _

Suddenly, another thought crossed Bluestar's mind as she finally pulled back. "Fireheart? Where did you say you left the dogs' bodies again?"

Her son's eyes widened. "Oh, er, about that..."

* * *

Tigerstar strode through ShadowClan's forest–_his _forest–scanning the trees for any sign of prey. It had been a long day of running his Clan, and he felt that he deserved some time to himself. Being a Clan leader was everything he had ever dreamed it would be, but it was also exhausting at times, especially when his warriors kept coming up to him with easily answerable questions. Just that afternoon, Jaggedtooth had asked him if he thought Rowanpaw was ready for an assessment.

"That's your decision," Tigerstar had replied curtly. "You're his mentor, after all–unless you need me to hold your paw."

"O-of course," Jaggedtooth had stammered. "I'm sorry to waste your time. I just thought–"

But the dark tabby had turned around and left before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

_Pathetic, _Tigerstar thought scornfully as he pounced on a rat that had been unfortunate enough to stray across his path. _You would think that ShadowClan cats wouldn't need to run to me over everything. Are they not capable of taking care of themselves? At least in ThunderClan, warriors knew what was expected of them and didn't need Bluestar to tell them how to do their duties. _

Briefly, he wondered how Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw were faring. He hadn't seen any sign of his kits since he demanded them to be handed over to ShadowClan, and he had a feeling that Goldenflower, Bluestar, and Fireheart had ordered their mentors to keep them away from the ShadowClan border. Anger pricked at his pelt at the injustice of it all. Regardless of what he had done, they were _his _kits as well, and nobody had any right to take them away from him.

As he drew closer to the border, a foul stench suddenly threatened to knock the breath out of him. Tigerstar curled his lip in disgust. It smelled as though all the prey in the forest had gathered inside his territory and decided to drop dead right then and there. The air positively _reeked_, and for a moment, the ShadowClan leader had to fight to keep his fresh-kill from making a reappearance.

_What in StarClan's name is that smell? _

Eager to find the source of the stench so he could get rid of it, Tigerstar walked over in the direction it was coming from. As soon as he saw what it was, he froze. Lying on the ground, just inside ShadowClan territory, were the rapidly-cooling bodies of six massive dogs. Their eyes were still open but glazed, filled with a mixture of fear and hatred.

Upon seeing this horrifying sight, Tigerstar promptly did the first and only reasonable thing that came to mind.

He screamed.

* * *

**Okay, this chapter was going to be all warm and heartfelt, but I couldn't resist making it into a joke at the end. But hey, the plan worked and Fireheart got a chance to pull a prank on Tigerstar–or, well, the entirety of ShadowClan, really–so all's well that ends well. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


	25. Alliance

"Are you quite sure this is where he lives?"

"Yes, Scourge, I am certain this is the place. I caught a glimpse of him in the window the other day."

Darkstripe pricked his ears as he heard the sound of voices coming from outside the Twoleg nest. He turned his head in the direction they were coming from curiously. It wasn't the first time someone had passed by, but this time, it sounded as though they were looking specifically for his new residence. He felt a spark of hope in his chest. Perhaps Tigerstar had finally found a way to rescue him after all. Still, a twinge of doubt lingered in the back of Darkstripe's mind. Neither of the voices sounded like any of the cats he had known in ShadowClan.

_Maybe he decided to ask the other Twolegplace cats for help? _the dark gray tabby wondered. It didn't seem like something that Tigerstar would do, but he supposed that desperate times called for desperate measures.

A few moments of silence passed before the first cat grunted, "Is he going to come out?"

"Let me try," the second cat answered. He pounded against the side of the Twoleg nest and called out, "Hey! Forest cat! Are you in there?"

"What do you want?" Darkstripe snapped back, bristling with indignation at being called _forest cat _instead of his name. _Although, I suppose I can't blame them. After all, they don't know who I am or anything about the Clans beyond whatever tales kittypet queens like to tell. They couldn't be expected to know my real name. _

"Come outside. We have a proposal for you," the stranger meowed.

_Well, I guess that answers the question as to whether Tigerstar sent them to rescue me or not. _

"I can't," Darkstripe replied irritably. "It's impossible for me to get out of here."

"No, it's not." It was Scourge who spoke this time. "Your housefolk's door has a cat flap. I can see it right now. Just push on it and you'll be able to get out."

Now Darkstripe was embarrassed. He had been cooped up in the Twoleg nest for what felt like seasons, waiting for Tigerstar to save him, and all this time he could have escaped on his own. Feeling his fur grow hot, the dark gray warrior rose to his paws and walked in the direction the voices were coming from. Almost at once, he spotted the cat flap that Scourge had mentioned, and he felt even more embarrassed. How could he have missed something so obvious?

As he pushed his way outside, Darkstripe noticed two toms sitting a few tail-lengths away, their tails curled neatly around their paws. They must have been the cats who had called for him. The first one was an almost comically small black cat with blue eyes like chips of ice and a single white paw, and the second was a large black and white tom that reminded Darkstripe vividly of Barley, the loner from the barn outside of Clan territory. Both cats were wearing collars around their necks; however, Darkstripe shivered when he saw that the two strangers' collars had dogs' and cats' teeth sticking out of them.

_Great StarClan, who are these cats? _he wondered. Out loud, he meowed, "What did you need from me?"

The black cat stepped forward. "Greetings," he meowed, his voice high and cold. "I am Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, and the tom with me is Snake. As we mentioned before, we have a proposal for you."

Darkstripe narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "BloodClan?" he repeated scornfully. "Don't make me laugh. There are only four Clans–ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan."

"You are correct in a sense," Scourge meowed, dipping his head. "There are only four _forest _Clans. However, I have spent many seasons forming a Clan of my own, one that consists of cats from the city."

"Right," Darkstripe scoffed. "Well, I'm afraid I can't do anything to help you. I am the deputy of ShadowClan and it's time I got back home. I've been away from my Clan for too long already."

Scourge's eyes narrowed into slits of anger for a few heartbeats, his lip curling in displeasure. Darkstripe tensed his muscles, preparing himself in case the smaller cat decided to attack. A moment later, however, the black tom relaxed again.

"I understand your hesitation," he replied in a voice that made it clear he was attempting to suppress his temper. "However, I assure you that if you help us, you will be rewarded greatly for your service."

Darkstripe had to admit that Scourge's proposal held a small amount of appeal for him. He wasn't about to give in so easily, however. After all, Tigerstar had promised to make him his deputy as a reward for his loyalty, yet it certainly hadn't felt like one. He paced back and forth for a few heartbeats before turning to speak to the two BloodClan cats again.

"Alright," he meowed finally. "Let's say for an instant that I do agree to help. What exactly is it that you need me to do?"

"It's nothing too difficult," Scourge answered. Darkstripe wondered why Snake had bothered coming along if he wasn't going to say anything. "I have some business to settle with a cat from the forest Clans, and a few...sources have told me that you were once a forest cat yourself, which you have now confirmed for me. So tell me, are you familiar with a cat named Tigerpaw?"

"He's called Tigerstar now, but yes," Darkstripe replied warily. "And just why do you need to know this?"

"To put it simply, we have a score to settle." Scourge's eyes narrowed menacingly and Darkstripe had to fight hard not to flinch at the cold hatred that blazed in them. "Tigerstar has wronged me and I intend to see justice served."

* * *

Russetfur followed Fireheart as the ThunderClan deputy led her in the direction of his camp. An awkward silence hung in the air between them, and she guessed that the flame-colored warrior was uncomfortable with having one of Tigerstar's warriors on his territory. In a way, she supposed that she couldn't blame him. If she were in his place, she knew she wouldn't be pleased about taking the deputy of a Clan that had allowed an attempted murderer to become their leader into her camp.

She had been uncertain at first about following Tigerstar's plan to take over ShadowClan when sickness ravaged their camp, sure that StarClan would punish them somehow. After making the mistake of following Brokenstar, she had sworn never to ally herself with another cat like him ever again. But moons of living as a rogue had taken its toll on Russetfur, and she had been given no choice but to follow Tigerstar–Tigerclaw then. If it was a choice between starving to death and displeasing a few dead cats, she would happily take the latter.

As time had passed, however, there were no signs of anger from her warrior ancestors. Indeed, things were running as smoothly as ever in ShadowClan, at least from her perspective. Tigerstar was a good leader and seemed content with his position. Soon, Russetfur had found herself relaxing. Surely, she thought to herself, the fact that everything was going well was proof that Tigerstar had StarClan's blessing.

"How much longer?" she asked Fireheart, breaking the silence.

Fireheart twitched his tail irritably. "Not much farther," he replied shortly. He shot her a glance through narrowed eyes. "I don't know why Tigerstar insisted on sending you here. He should know by now that we aren't going to send Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw to ShadowClan."

"He is aware that your Clan is...unwilling to agree to his demands," Russetfur agreed, nodding.

"Then why bother?" Fireheart repeated.

"I don't know for sure myself," she admitted, twitching her ear. "Nobody really knows the way Tigerstar's mind works, not even the cats who are closest to him. But ShadowClan just recovered from a devastating illness, so as long as they have a strong warrior to lead them, they won't ask too many questions."

"So that's why they allowed a bunch of rogues to take over?" the flame-colored tom snorted.

Russetfur didn't answer, knowing full well that anything she said would only displease the ThunderClan deputy even more. Fireheart turned away from her as well, and the two cats continued walking in silence. Trying to distract herself from the tension brewing in the air, Russetfur allowed her eyes to travel around the forest. While she would never admit so to anyone, ThunderClan territory was far superior to ShadowClan's. The woods were rich and green, perfect for prey to make their homes in, unlike the dark, dreary forest and marshland in ShadowClan territory. But ShadowClan cats were the best night warriors in the forest, and their territory was perfect for that. Russetfur would gladly take being able to hunt and fight amongst the darkest shadows over getting a few extra pieces of fresh-kill any day.

Suddenly, Fireheart stopped dead, nearly causing her to crash into him. She sputtered indignantly, but the ThunderClan warrior ignored her. His ears were pricked and his eyes were narrowed at something in the bushes a few fox-lengths away.

"What are you doing?" Russetfur snapped.

Instead of answering her directly, Fireheart bounded forward in the direction of the bush. Confused, Russetfur watched as he slashed his claws at it and was even more bewildered when the bush let out a howl of pain. As she raced over to see what was going on, a dark gray tabby tumbled out in front of her. The fur along her spine prickled in shock as she recognized Darkstripe.

"Darkstripe!" Fireheart snarled, his green eyes flashing with fury. Russetfur suddenly remembered that Darkstripe had murdered Rainkit, the son of one of the ThunderClan queens, Willowpelt. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Although Darkstripe was bigger than Fireheart, he cowered in the face of the fiery ginger tom's anger. His fear stench threatened to choke Russetfur, and the contemptuous look on Fireheart's face told her that he could smell it as well. His claws were pinned against Darkstripe's throat, and for a moment, Russetfur wondered if he would kill the former ShadowClan cat.

Evidently, Darkstripe was wondering the same thing, for he meowed pitifully, "Don't kill me, please."

"You have some nerve, asking me to spare your life when you so callously murdered a kit," he snarled. Russetfur couldn't help agreeing with him. "However, you're in luck today. As much as I think you deserve to have your throat torn out and your corpse fed to the rats, I won't deny Willowpelt the satisfaction of killing you herself. So you get to walk free today, _Dirtstripe_, but watch your back from now on because when I tell her that I saw you today, she will stop at nothing until she manages to hunt you down."

"Y-yes, Fireheart, I understand," the tabby stammered.

Fireheart nodded curtly and stepped off, allowing Darkstripe to get back to his paws again. He did so shakily, giving his chest fur a few rapid licks before turning to Russetfur with a curious expression in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "You haven't gone to join ThunderClan, have you?"

"No," Russetfur answered sharply. "I'm here on Clan business. Tigerstar named me the new deputy of ShadowClan after you were chased out."

Darkstripe stiffened visibly, and for a moment, Russetfur thought she could see anger, hurt, and betrayal in his eyes. But the dark gray tabby relaxed and forced his expression into one of neutrality before she could be entirely certain of what she saw. He stepped back, dipping his head to her.

"Congratulations," he meowed. "I'm certain that you will do a fine job."

Without another word, he turned around and bounded off toward what Russetfur knew from experience was Twolegplace. She stared after him in confusion, then glanced over at Fireheart, who still looked as furious as ever. After a few heartbeats, the two deputies continued on their way, the silence still hanging as thick and heavy in the air as ever. As they walked, Russetfur's mind kept wandering back to Darkstripe's behavior when he learned that she had replaced him as Tigerstar's deputy.

_What in StarClan's name was that all about?_

* * *

Scourge and Snake were still waiting when Darkstripe arrived back at the Twoleg nest. When they saw him approaching, the self-proclaimed BloodClan leader rose slowly to his paws and padded over to meet him. His eyes were as cold as ever, but there was a hint of arrogance to them now, and Darkstripe guessed that Scourge already knew what his answer to his proposal was going to be.

"So, what do you say now?" the small black tom asked.

Darkstripe lashed his tail. "I'm in."

* * *

**This is the final chapter of Echoing Flames: A Dangerous Path. I'll be posting the new story as soon as I can find the time. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-TheShadowedWarrior**


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